Words that we Couldn't Say
by bekeleven
Summary: Neopolitan would be the perfect criminal, were it not for her inability to speak... and a chance meeting with a young huntress named Ruby Rose. Bit by bit, their growing relationship threatens to change the course of Remnant's history. Image by ChickenOnRice.
1. Prologue

_What's that sound?_

Oh well. No need to tire herself out about it, she'd reach the corner in ten seconds even without her semblance.

Around the corner, Ruby found a small girl dressed in white and black. With the ribbons in her long black hair she almost looked like a miniature Blake. Different face, though. Green eyes. And more frill all over.

In other words, completely unfamiliar. And standing still. In front of Ruby's door. (Well, RWBY's door.)

"Are... you lost?"

The girl shook her head quickly and pointed down the hall, past Ruby.

"You're here for the tournament, right? I swear you're the... well, actually just the second person if you go by groups... Anyway, this is the Beacon dorm. That is the dorm for students. People. People from Vale. Well, Weiss isn't from Vale, I'm from Patch, and Blake... But we all go here! You don't go here, even though you came here."

The girl stared at Ruby, face neutral. Waiting, perhaps, for a coherent thought to pass Ruby's lips.

 _Stay strong, Rubes._ "You want me to show you the guest dorms?"

Mini-not-Blake stared and, after two or three eternities, nodded. Ruby walked down the hall and the girl followed. _I'm fifteen and think she's a girl. Is she competing? A younger sister maybe? She does look about my age..._ "My name is Ruby. What's yours?"

Ruby looked back for a response but all she saw was the girl's eyes, followed by a somewhat dismissive look. Had she heard of Ruby before? And if so, of what? The savior of Vale? The sister of a force of nature? The youngest Beacon student? _I thought she'd like that. You know, if she knew. Knows. People are complicated. This was the whole point of my knees!_

Maybe she applied to a school and got rejected. Maybe she didn't have silver eyes, or whatever Ozpin saw that night. Maybe maybe maybe. Ruby left the dorm and walked across the courtyard, the girl following, rolling her eyes.

If she was living in the guest dorms, doesn't that mean she's a competitor? Or something else? The child of a visiting professor, watching from the sidelines? A younger sibling, towed along unwilling? The possibilities were enough to break Ruby's heart.

So in the middle of the courtyard, she turned around and hugged the girl. "I think you'll be a fine huntress one day," Ruby stated matter-of-factly into the girl's shoulder.

Immediately Ruby felt the girl's hands on her chest. "Stop!" protested a tiny, indignant voice. Ruby let go and let the girl shove. She wasn't big, but she had force behind her hands.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said. It had seemed the right thing to do, although the girl's face said otherwise.

The girl looked up and down Ruby, eyes wide. She took a step back, followed by another, and finally rushed away, her face beet-red.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you!" shouted Ruby. Not like she should be that embarrassed, the courtyard was nearly empty. It was like...

Like it was time for a match! _Her_ match!

 _Well, I guess I'll be a little tired after all._ Ruby raced to the shuttle docks, petals following. _And what was with the umbrella?_


	2. So Much to Say

**So Much to Say  
**

The guest dorms were nearly empty this time of day. Few people weren't at the fairgrounds or in Amity. The entire campus felt off-season. It got easier to breathe once Neo was inside, the walls and ceiling a comforting weight on her chest.

Neo looked in the bathroom and didn't see anyone there. _Still no good._ She washed her hands and stared at her forehead in the mirror.

She hadn't gotten into the room. More importantly, she talked. The girl made her _talk_. Heard her.

It bore further investigation.

 _Fine then._ Back to Cinder's room.

The woman was inside, reading her scroll, a map of campus spread out on a table. "No contact. No success?"

Neo shook her head. Cinder didn't have to look up to understand.

"Hmm. Well, their match just ended. I asked Em to find the pairings. Looks like Schnee and the big one. Not a strong pair, but they'll do."

Neo took her scroll out and typed a message for Cinder. ɪ'ᴍ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏɴɪɢʜᴛ.

Cinder's almost-permanent smug smile vanished. "We don't need information that badly. I may send you back during their next match, but certainly not before."

ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ɴᴇᴇᴅs ᴍᴏʀᴇ ɪɴᴠᴇsᴛɪɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.

"We're all clean, looking as we are. I intend to keep us that way. Absolutely not."

"Mm!" grunted Neo, pointing at the clock on Cinder's wall.

"Go to your room. We'll speak more tomorrow." Cinder waved her left hand in vague dismissal and went back to her scroll.

Neo drew her blade from her umbrella and stabbed it into Cinder's map. The point pierced the paper between the words _Student_ and _Dorm_.

Cinder looked back up. "Are you finished?" The two locked eyes.

She was. Neo dislodged her blade from the table and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.

* * *

 _Go to your room._ What a joke. Officially, guest students were placed in doubles. Cinder's room _was_ her room.

Less officially, breaking the law has its upsides. Let Em and Merc be the true believers. Neo was being paid. A lot. She took a ship down into the city.

Southern residential was cheap housing, red brick apartment buildings by the block. She didn't know how the girl had done it. Certainly she would have no idea the significance of what happened. Neo's apartment was 304. As well as 204, 303, 305, and 404, but those were just buffer space. She swiped in and changed. It felt good to have her normal eyes, even for a few minutes.

Neo screamed.

A loud, inarticulate shriek. It had been in _public_! Sure, nobody was around. But what if they had been?

How had Ruby done it?

 _Cinder has plans for her_. But Neo would have to find out. Even Cinder agreed she was her own woman, at least until tomorrow. She would simply have to investigate by herself.

And after Cinder's plans were finished, by then Neo would decide if Ruby got to live.


	3. Speak Like a Child

**Speak Like a Child**

"And they looked like this," Ruby's sister told the table, making a face with her tongue hanging out. The entire table laughed, especially the orange hair one. She was fun. A shame things had been interrupted, but at least this way it could happen again.

"That sniper sure kept us on our toes," admitted the incompetent one.

"I know what you mean," agreed Ruby. "The staff guy was actually pretty tricky. Didn't look like much, but he kept me and Weiss busy for a while!"

"Didn't look like much?" asked Ruby's partner. "This? Coming from _you_?"

There wasn't much laughter, but most of it came from Ruby. It was good to look small. Nobody knew what you could do. Neo had to respect the hood.

"Is this enough, _mom_?" asked Ruby, rising with her empty plate.

Her sister sighed and raised a hand. "Like I could stop you if you tried."

Ruby dashed off to the buffet. Neo rose and followed. No good for the others to see her. They didn't seem smart enough to recognize her, but why take a chance?

Neo met her at the dessert table and started typing. Ruby saw her coming. "Oh, hello! I'm sorry about the hug and everything but I just thought you were sad that you didn't get into beacon and I thought in a few years you could…"

She stopped talking as Neo showed her the words on her scroll. ᴍʏ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ɪs ᴘᴏʟʟʏ.

"Hello, Polly. I'm Ruby. I guess I already said that, didn't I? But maybe you forgot! So now you didn't."

A man shoved between them. When he was out of the way, Neo showed her another message. ʜᴜɢ ᴍᴇ

"I thought you didn't like being hugged."

 _I really, really don't._ Neo grabbed the girl by her hand and walked out of the hall. Ruby followed, willing at first, then digging her heels outside the door. "I really shouldn't just leave my team without telling them where I'm going."

Well, at least it wasn't crowded. ʜᴜɢ ᴍᴇ

"Listen… Polly. I don't really know _why_ you're asking me this, but"

Neo pressed a key and presented her scroll. ʜᴜɢ ᴍᴇ!

"Yes Ma'am!" Maybe in the end, it was the glare that did it.

Ruby embraced her. It was a full hug, like last time. Neo turned her head to the side to breathe. And taking a breath, she thanked the girl.

Nothing came out.

She demanded to be let go. Air.

She cursed in every language of remnant. Her mouth opened, and that was all.

"Is this good?" asked Ruby.

 _I don't get it. I've been grabbed before. I've been hugged before. Why could I speak to this girl? And why can't I now?_

Neo shoved her off again and typed. ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ʏᴏᴜʀ sᴇᴍʙʟᴀɴᴄᴇ?

"Uh, speed. I'm all zoom zoom fast. How about you?"

Nothing about the semblance. ɴᴏɴᴇ. What was left? Was Neo just caught that off-guard?

"Are you… are you competing in the tournament?"

ʏᴇs.

"Well, listen, I'm very flattered that you like hugging me, but I have to get"

ɪ'ʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ.

"I'm sorry, Polly, but I don't like you that way."

Neo deleted some words. ɪ'ʟʟ sᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ.

"Why, Polly?" The caution drained from Ruby's voice. She was demanding, and maybe a little out of patience.

She couldn't play around Ruby and Cinder both. One would have to be on her side. And Ruby would be a lot easier to convince. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ.

"I was wondering why the scroll. So it's not just a sore throat?"

ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴜɢɢᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ɪ sᴘᴏᴋᴇ. ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜʏ. ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ.

"Oh. Wait, why?"

ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ.

"Well…" Ruby paused. "If you want to see me again, you have to do something for me too."

Neo waited. Was Ruby expecting her to type an answer to that? Was a waste of time.

"Tell me why you're glaring at me all the time. Like now."

The most insidious lies were the ones that were true. ɪ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ.

Ruby nodded. "Well, if you think that I can help, I'll meet you tomorrow before lunch. I'm a helper. You'll see. Ruby Rose will have you speaking in no time!" She dashed into the door, perhaps to punctuate the _no time_ part, but it had just swung closed. Miraculously, the girl bounced off instead of breaking anything. _This whole building looks reinforced._

Silently, Neo laughed.

* * *

She held her hand upagainst her nightlight, making shadows on the ceiling. A cat. She'd been held before. Even back when she could speak. Never by somebody her age, though. Was that it? _Dust save me, will I have to find a child?_

An ursa. She didn't want to if she could help it. Children were always boring. Never fight back. The shadows were warped, cast sideways instead of straight up, from her position on the bed. It seemed more appropriate for Grimm.

A nevermore. It didn't seem related to Aura. Just to her. To why she couldn't speak. Didn't speak. She'd have to try more with Ruby, somehow.

Ruby Rose.

Neo thought of her smashing into the door and laughed. It began as a giggle that transformed into a wheeze when she ran out of air. Eventually she got her breathing under control and readjusted her pillow. Then she popped her umbrella open, casting the entire ceiling in shadow.


	4. City of Dreams

**City of Dreams**

Neo slipped the prescription across the counter to the pharmacist and pointed to a shelf behind him. The man took it, read it, and walked straight by that shelf into the back.

She snapped her finger a couple of times, but he didn't look back at her. He opened the door to the back room and disappeared.

Neo had no fear of him contacting the authorities. Her identity was clean. And even if Torchwick had written the prescription, he'd done a _very good job_ on his forgery.

If Torchwick turned and talked, they wouldn't track her by her prescription use, they'd go to her apartment. Funny that even in when he went to prison she was happy she'd had him make the calls to the landlord instead of Cinder. Was it because he was trustworthy? Well, not so much trustworthy as... transparent. He might get something turning her in, but nothing he _wanted_.

The man appeared in the doorway. "I'm sorry, we're out of..." He followed her hand, still pointing, to the shelf. It was _right there_. Blue box, red text. He checked, and obligingly placed a box in her bag.

"I have ears, you know," he admonished as he rung her up.

 _You only need eyes._ Neo left to walk back home. The pharmacy was cheaper than ones in better neighborhoods, _and_ it was in a worse neighborhood. Win-win. After dealing with imbeciles for over a day with no outlet...

A hand grabbed one of her neck frills and pulled yanked her into an alley. _THANK DUST!_

Neo pushed towards the grab and sailed right past her assailant. She'd need to be deeper in the alleyway to avoid notice from the street. Slipping from his grip, she stopped in front of an alley wall and turned to face him.

He was tall, and wore all black, save his red tie and glasses. Axe holstered. She'd seen the type. Bottom-feeders. This would hardly be fun at all. Further into the alley she saw an open dumpster, although it didn't look full.

"Bag and wallet," he told her. So Neo shrunk back, bumped into the wall, and clutched the bag to her chest. She mostly kept the smirk from her face. Sometimes that could deter people.

He walked up to her. She reached out an arm and shoved him back.

"Listen, little girl." He stepped up again. "Just give me the bag and" Neo shoved him back again. _Almost there._

"All right, that's it." He punched. Neo ducked, dropping her bag. His fist hit the wall. She moved deeper into the alley, to the dumpster. He followed, swinging a haymaker. Neo ducked again, kicking the dumpster back with a foot. It slammed backwards into the wall and the force smashed the lid down on his hand. His aura cracked.

Now the fun part. Does he call for help? A grown man with an axe on his belt, against _her_?

He ran.

Neo flipped her umbrella into the air and grabbed the end, then reached out and tripped him with the handle. _You grabbed me by my outfit. Could've ripped. Do you have any idea how much this costs?_

She walked up to him and kicked his calf. He whimpered when the bone broke. _An arm and a leg._ She took another step and kicked his forearm. Another beautiful snap. _And one for good luck._ She kicked his upper arm too. It was _still_ only one arm and leg. An even trade.

His left hand was going for a scroll. Neo picked up her bag and left. Let him.

The entire encounter had barely run thirty seconds. On the bright side, at least she'd had one. She couldn't devote time to seeking them out, but when one dropped into her lap, she could hardly be expected to refuse.

She had to get up the hill to Beacon. It was getting near lunchtime.


	5. Letting My Heart Speak

**Letting My Heart Speak**

The problem with being the help was lack of information. Just enter when you're told and do your duty. No beginning or end; no context. Just the job. Of course, just doing the job has upsides. Certainly requires less time _because sitting around brooding and looking for fights is such a good use._ As a less integral member they rely on you less _because distance from people is serving me so well._

Yes, Neo needed more hobbies. But for now she simply needed an answer to Ruby's question that wouldn't get the girl suspicious.

ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴍʏ ᴛᴇᴀᴍᴍᴀᴛᴇs.

"I mean, probably not. I don't know many students from Haven. Mostly just Sun and his boys. I did just meet this girl Arslan, but you're not one of her teammates."

sʜᴇ's ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅ. Hopefully Neo's real feelings wouldn't show on her face. It would be true to Ruby, which was what mattered. Besides, the girl was too busy staring around the gazebo to pay attention to Neo's face. Neo didn't even realize there were spots this secluded on campus. Not secluded enough that she'd be able to talk, but secluded.

"Yeah. She gave Yang a beating, and Yang is, like, invincible."

Neo smiled. What else could she possibly do? She opened her scroll. ᴀɴʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴏɴ ᴍᴇ sᴘᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ

"Well, did you try feeling what you felt when I hugged you?"

ᴀɴɢᴇʀ

"Polly..." Ruby collected her thoughts. "When I started work on Crescent Rose she was just a scythe. Now she's a collapsible high-caliber custom-shell bolt-action sniper scythe." The girl unfolded her weapon and made some sort of baby sound as she nuzzled her face across the handle.

Neo waited for Ruby to remember she wasn't alone. Or rather, that she and Crescent Rose weren't alone.

One of her face-rubs brought Neo across the girl's line of sight. "Uh... anyway." She snapped back up and collapsed her weapon again. "Back to that thing that I was saying and still am saying. I figure you've spent as much time being angry at stuff, _like now please stop glaring it's kind of scary_ as I have on Crescent Rose. So just angry doesn't really cover it."

She was, annoyingly, very right. But Neo didn't have words for her feelings. She'd never had to explain them. Never been able. Just feeling them was enough.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴇᴇʟ?

"I felt sorry for you."

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ sᴛɪʟʟ

Ruby hesitated. "Yes."

ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ɪ'ᴍ ᴅᴏɴᴇ.

With the girl looking over her shoulder, Neo began to type. Ruby's scroll began to beep. Both ignored it.

ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴀɴɢʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ. ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜᴇᴅ. ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴄᴏɴғᴜsᴇᴅ. ʏᴏᴜ sᴇᴇᴍᴇᴅ ɴɪᴄᴇ ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍʏ sᴘᴀᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀsᴛ ɪᴛ ғᴇʟᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀɴ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ғᴇʟᴛ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴠᴜʟɴᴇʀᴀʙʟᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ sᴏ ᴄʟᴏsᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴏʀ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇsᴘᴏɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ sᴄᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ.

Neo turned to Ruby to signal that she was finished. Ruby read the words a second time. _Beep, beep, beep._ That scroll was insistent.

No hugs this time. Ruby grabbed Neo's hand and squeezed.

 _Beep beep beep._

Neo exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Her chest was spasming in what turned out to be a laugh, a nervous giggle of released tension. The worst was over and she could come down. It made a small sound.

The sound made Ruby look around, and she glanced down to her pocket for the first time. "That's my uncle," she said. "I have to go. I'll see you again soon!"

In a burst of petals, she was off.

* * *

The student records at Beacon were public information within the city. It was easy enough for a resident to access the directory.

ROSE, RUBY: RWBY came with a picture. Neo propped her scroll up on her nightstand, so she could see the girl's face lying down in bed. She reached out towards it, but her fingers stopped short of the screen.

"Good morning," Neo said to the picture. Her voice was cautious, quiet. Afraid to come out.

"Good morning." She had to want it. To want to speak.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

"Good morning."


	6. So Says I

**So Says I**

Neo wasn't asleep when the message came, she just should've been. _Cinder relies a lot on me leaving my scroll off silent._ It might explain the generous retainer. Two streets, an intersection nearby.

Neo wouldn't do. Nor would Polly want to be associated with whatever Cinder had in mind. Tonight she would be Lita, dressing out of the false trunk bottom. Nondescript. Dark, neutral tones. sleeveless, striped shirt. Black armbands. Brown eyes. Navy scroll case. One costume-jewelry necklace. The hair could stay black.

When Neo got to the corner her scroll buzzed again. ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ. ᴄ. A light flicked on in an upstairs window of a warehouse across the street. The industrial district was totally deserted this time of night, save the odd security guard, and with Cinder here _those_ wouldn't be much worry. Neo crossed the street, hopped the gate and, using her umbrella, guided a jump inside.

An accounting room, with computers, one of them on. Cinder was alone. She turned off the lights. "Thank you for your prompt arrival. There's a medivac on the bottom floor. You'll be driving it out. You have a license?"

Neo pressed some keys and held her scroll out to Cinder. ɴᴏ

"But do you need one?" The woman smiled.

Neo smiled too, and kept her scroll out.

"Excellent. I'll handle things on the ground. The records are already in place. Just drive it out to the west, I have a location." Cinder got her own scroll out and sent Neo another message.

The two took the stairs to the ground floor. At the bottom, Neo got her attention with a "Mm?" and started typing.

Cinder waited.

ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀɪʀ

"Sleeping. They had a big day today. Don't worry, we're all still on the same side."

 _Roman is still in jail._ They always began with sisterhood, with loyalty and togetherness. Then the favors get returned, and they just keep asking for more. And eventually, when they need someone to take the fall, or just don't want to share the take... And this time, Neo couldn't even do anything about it. Cinder was too powerful. _I'm still faster. If I have to be._

But so far Cinder had been good. Been honest. Given her access to her plans, at least as much as she had to. Trusted her with a medivac.

It was larger than anything she'd driven before, and she'd barely had experience in three dimensions. Neo opened the door and got into the driver's seat. She couldn't see in front of her. She fiddled with the dash. There were bottom-facing cameras for landing, but nothing to show straight forward.

So Neo raised the seat. And still couldn't see. She grabbed a thick book from the glove compartment and placed it in the seat beneath her. And couldn't reach the pedals.

Her scroll vibrated. ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ?

Neo typed back, ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟs

Twenty seconds later, ᴍᴀɴᴜᴀʟ ɪɴ ɢʟᴏᴠᴇ

The book Neo was sitting on. _Of course._ three minutes later, she was in the air. She caught sight of Cinder and a few limp forms just outside the warehouse main door - it reminded Neo of the good side of her job - and took off for Cinder's warehouse by the docks.

Luckily, the warehouse door was open when Neo arrived. Less luckily, it was open because a group of white fang were rolling a crate out on a pallet jack. She brought the craft in low, waited for the group to get the crate past the opening, and slid through with only minor scraping on the front right wing. She landed, disembarked, and went outside where the group had opened the crate and started to unpack individual boxes of dust. She counted four men and two women. They stopped when they saw her walk up.

One of the men, tall and with green scales running up his neck, stepped forward to meet Neo. "We're done here. We're through getting our hands dirty and dying for human politics. We're taking some dust as payment, and you'll never see us again." He turned back to his friends. "Keep unloading." He had the mask of a lieutenant, or whatever they called the rank.

 _Must recognize me. Or just have an idea I'm someone that needs an explanation._ Neo stepped forward, twirling her umbrella playfully, pointed down. The other Faunus stood still. _He's right about that. But not about him leaving._

"Fine then, human." The lieutenant took a step towards her, bringing him within ten feet. He raised his left arm above his head and flicked the limb towards her, hand twirling like he threw a frisbee. Only instead, a chain shot out of his sleeve and wrapped around Neo's arms and chest. The chain was covered in hooks, the kind that could tear flesh if her aura broke. It wrapped itself around her body and hooked into itself, pinning her arms to her sides.

The lieutenant yanked her forward, and Neo stumbled towards him, into his fist. The blow sent her flying back, so she spun to unravel the chain. She got some links uncaught while the chain had slack but only managed a half-revolution before he pulled her back to towards him and kicked her in the chest. She flew into the air, the chain went taut, and she arced towards the ground.

Neo pointed her umbrella downwards and released the catch, firing the front of the umbrella into the ground to slow her fall. It barely had room to fire and didn't even clear the blade in the handle, but she slowed to a safer speed, and as she hit the ground it reslotted into the handle and clicked into place. Since her hands were pinned at her waist she balanced her weight on the umbrella, pivoted across it and landed on her feet. Then she pointed the tip at the lieutenant, opened the umbrella with a button and fired it again with another, blasting him with a ring of fabric and metal aimed at his neck.

The lieutenant stumbled back, pulling Neo along. She moved into the pull, staying balanced on her feet this time, and when he threw the umbrella away from his face she headbutted him in the chest. He reeled, and she dodged left and planted her feet, causing him to clothesline himself with his own chain and fall to the ground. _Finally!_ Neo saw some of the other faunus move to surround the pair.

With her hands pinned to her waist, Neo could only strike so high. When the lieutenant went down, she jumped on top of him and stabbed towards his wrist, skewering a link in his chain and pinning it to the concrete. Then she kicked his arm as hard as she could, dealing no damage through aura, but with a rip of fabric she disconnected the end of the chain from his sleeve. She brought her blade up with the link still skewered and flicked it off, spinning the chain around her body, unwinding it; the hooks kept it together from one direction only. The chain whirled around her body and kept the other white fang at bay. When she finally freed herself, she held onto the end and kept spinning it over her head. It was good to be small.

 _This one is fun! He deserves a send-off._ Neo was smiling. Her eyes had probably gone pink again. The front of her umbrella was on the ground to her left.

The lieutenant rose and grabbed the end of the chain as it twirled, so Neo dropped it and let the momentum tangle him. Then she kicked the front of her umbrella behind him, then bowled him into it, stabbing into his chest. His aura broke.

And once again the blade in the handle clicked into place inside the handle. Neo was grinning from ear to ear.

One of the other white fang took off running. Neo heaved the corpse into a standing position, aimed, and fired. The front of the umbrella shot out from the man's back and took the woman to the ground. Neo rushed forward, between two of the other white fang, who wisely chose to stay still.

 _This one's no fun at all._ Neo stood over her prone form and took out her scroll. Typing was awkward with one hand still holding her umbrella handle, but the blade was too bloody for her to hang it at her waist. After ten long seconds she held her scroll out to the woman cowering on the ground.

"Re... read this out loud?" she stammered.

Neo took the scroll back and typed some more.

"This will be our secret if you..." she gulped. "Our secret if you clean up your mess."

After the woman finished reading, Neo turned to glare at the others, still clustered by the dust crate and their leader's body.

He was skilled. Neo's aura had gotten low. She'd been sloppy. Sleep-deprived and sloppy.

Neo turned back to the faunus by her feet and pointed at the boxes of dust. From the look on her face the woman just remembered she was on the ground, so she rose and ran to the boxes, picking one up and carrying it back to the crate. Another man picked up the lieutenant's body and started dragging it into the warehouse.

Neo cleaned and stowed her weapon. Even still, she had too much blood on her clothing to take transportation back to her apartment. It was a long walk from the docks to the residential district. A young woman, alone, late at night. Almost no aura remaining. Anything could happen.

 _I should be so lucky._

She thought it, but didn't really mean it. She'd had enough excitement for one night. Sleep - maybe four hours if she walked quickly - was her goal now. _Good morning._ She could still practice, in her head.


	7. Come Talk to Me

**Come Talk To Me**

 _Maybe it will be good._

 _It's not physical. My body can talk. It's just my inhibitions that stop me. And lack of sleep is supposed to lead to lower inhibitions. I think I read that somewhere._

A blinking warning on Neo's scroll was telling her that lack of sleep also led to lower aura. A round of _Grim Defense_ on the shuttle told her her it led to slower reaction times. And her daily crossword said her thinking had suffered as well, although experience said it would be worse day 2.

Neo was having a hard time convincing herself it was a good idea. As she looked around the mess hall, full of energetic students wasting their free time, she failed to suppress her sneer.

 _I'm wasting free time too. Oh no, does lack of sleep lead to introspection? That is the last thing I need._ Besides, she wasn't _wasting_ time. Not exactly. Neo turned away from the path to the side door she sat near. She was _waiting._

It wouldn't do to look desperate.

It took five more agonizing minutes of pretending to drink orange juice before Neo spotted her. Ruby, walking towards the door. Neo stared intently at the wall, raising her glass to her lips.

"Polly?"

Neo turned towards her and smiled. Belatedly, she tried to look at least a little surprised. Polly wasn't the type of person to map out routes and plan encounters, at least as far as Neo could tell.

"Polly, it is you! Just sittin' alone, drinking your juice?"

Neo could plan much better with a full night's sleep. She got out her scroll. ʏᴇs.

"How come I never see you with your team?"

ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴍᴀᴛᴇs, ɴᴏᴛ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs.

"That's a shame. I don't know what I'd do here without my team. I mean, I got a lot of friends here in my time at Beacon, but a a bunch of them will be leaving town once the festival ends. I guess that's you too."

"Mm." Neo pointed at the door. It was progress, in a way. She didn't grunt unless she was comfortable with someone, or occasionally trying to kill them.

"Ok, we can head out. Also: Did not know you could do that."

"Mm."

Ruby led the way towards the guest dorms. Probably to go to Neo's room. Would Cinder be in there? Did Cinder even leave the second bed in it? _Lack of sleep led to poor memory recall in most subjects._ And to rub it in, Neo couldn't remember where she'd read that.

Neo cut across the courtyard towards Ruby's dorm.

"Well, ok. You don't want to speak in your room?"

Neo typed as she walked. ᴍʏ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴍᴀᴛᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ɪɴ. It took Ruby a second to read, with both of them walking.

"Oh. Well, Yang is probably too pumped about her match and Weiss will be with her, but Blake stops by for books sometimes even when she doesn't stay to read so don't be surprised she's really nice and kinda quiet. Not like, _you_ quiet, but quiet and smart and I think you'd get along!"

Neo walked up to the girl's door and typed while she opened it. ɪ'ᴍ ʜᴇʀᴇ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ.

"Eh... well, yes. Anyway! You can make sound. That's cool."

The room was not what Neo expected, although perhaps she should've. The four beds were arranged in two piles, one normal if unsteady-looking and the other with the top bed hanging from the ceiling. A small dog ran up to Ruby and she lifted it up and pet it.

"Does your not being here for people include dogs?"

ɪᴛ ᴅᴏᴇs.

"Oh." Ruby sat down on a bed - the one with another bed suspended above it - and patted the sheets next to her. Neo walked up and sat down, and Ruby dropped the dog on the bed between them. "So. It's a mystery, is it."

There was a _whoosh_ of air and Ruby produced a magnifying glass and a funny looking hat. _So fast!_ "Detective Ruby is on the case!" she declared, peering through the glass at Neo's face. "The case of the missing voice. Don't worry, Polly. We'll find it."

Neo laughed.

"The first question the detective must ask is, where did you see it last?"

ɪɴ ᴍʏ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ.

"Did you check under your bed?"

ɪᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ. Neo began to pet the dog.

"Well, how did you lose it?"

Neo needed more. Cinder had mentioned Ruby and her team a few times with Neo in the room, but never all that many details about the girl herself. ʜᴏᴡ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛs

"Well, If it will help us solve the case... My mother is dead and my father is nice, but he spends a lot of time away."

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʜɪᴍ? Neo wasn't sure if being conscious of her condition was making her overly cautious, or if she was only broaching the entire topic due to her uncharacteristically poor impulse control.

"Yes. And my mother too."

ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡʜʏ ɪ ʟᴏsᴛ ᴍʏ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ.

The pair locked eyes. Neo didn't smirk, didn't glare. Just met the challenge in Ruby's face. Ruby sized her up, and finally removed her cap. "I want to help. I do. Please let me, Polly."

 _If she asks for it, give it._

 _She doesn't know what she's saying._

 _Oh, and_ I'm _the expert at saying?_

ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ sɪɴᴄᴇ ᴍʏ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛs sᴏʟᴅ ᴍᴇ.

Ruby read the scroll and looked back at Neo's face. Neo's cheeks flushed, and she swallowed. Suddenly it was very difficult to keep her composure. She squirmed as Ruby's face drew close, and the dog jumped off her lap and hid under the bed.

A blonde boy - the incompetent one - saw the pair from the hall, opened his mouth as if to speak, and closed the door instead.

Ruby asked, "Have your eyes always been silver?"

 _Oh no._ Even when tired, Neo hadn't slipped up that badly for years. _How much does she know?_

 _All of it? Any?_

Neo held up her scroll. Her hands shook as she typed, ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ.

"Oh. I -"

Neo placed a finger on Ruby's mouth to quiet her.

And she went.


	8. Hard to Say

**Hard to Say**

Amity was a wonderful building. Most of the space was taken by the arena in its center and machinery below, but around its edges honeycombed a network of rooms and hallways. Inside those twisting passages, the building felt almost like a cave. Large, yet intimate. Room to run, but short passageways to fight. No long distances.

Neo left the bathroom to find an orange-haired girl wearing green overalls over a tan blouse. Maybe a contestant, Neo wasn't following the tournament. Whoever she was, she was watching Neo more closely than she'd like. Neo took a few steps down the hall and the girl followed.

 _Fine. I can play._ Neo stopped, took out her scroll, and began to type. ᴡʜʏ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ

"My name is Penny." The girl extended her hand. Her voice was chipper. "You are Polly Ciara. I enjoyed your appearance in the tournament."

Neo took a breath and tried to cut down on her glare. Better to simply shake off the admirer and be on her way. ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴅ

"Oh, I know! Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai are very capable fighters. I would very much like to meet one of them in the singles round."

Once was maybe a coincidence, but there was no way the girl could answer questions before Neo had finished typing them, much less shown the other girl her scroll. _Is she guessing what I type from the way my fingers move?_ This would be so much easier to solve on six hours of sleep. _Is she reading my mind? No. That just causes more problems than it answers._ Neo blinked.

Penny remained still, her hand thrust forward. Neo stowed her scroll and shook Penny hand, hoping to at least resolve one outstanding issue. Maybe it would make the girl go away.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Polly Ciara."

 _Fine. Let's see how good you are._ Neo looked at Penny, then placed her hands in front of her body, as though she held an invisible scroll. She moved her thumbs to where she'd find the keys, "ɪᴛs ɴɪᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴏ."

"Thank you!" responded Penny.

"ʜᴏᴡ ᴄᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴍ ᴛʏᴘɪɴɢ"

"Oh. I have a lot of experience with keyboards." She sounded apologetic, or maybe embarrassed. "...and mechanics of things like that." She hiccuped.

Something was very wrong with this girl. With the whole situation. But really, mostly the girl. "ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ," ghost-typed Neo, "ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ sᴀʏ ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ"

"I have a question for you, Polly Ciara."

Fine then. She still had time. "ᴡʜᴀᴛ"

"Weren't your eyes green in the broadcast?"

 _So I go five years without a single slip-up, then I compromise an identity when I get tired and project my body wrong. Great. Just great._ She'd have to take measures. Make sure no fallout reached Cinder. The last thing she needed was both sides after her, _and_ aware of her powers.

Neo was armed, but the umbrella was tucked deep into her backpack. She'd have to open unarmed. _Wait. This girl made it to the singles round. She's going to be good at..._

Eh. Not like most of the competitors were that good. Neo's aura still wasn't full, but she'd...

 _Wait. There may be a much simpler solution._

"ɴᴏ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡᴇʀᴇɴ'ᴛ" Neo mimed.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I must be mistaken." Penny hiccuped again.

 _Well, brain, you haven't totally abandoned me. Just decided to take a vacation every once in awhile._

The bathroom door swung open. Out walked a dark-skinned, blue-haired woman looking down at her watch. "I apologize, ma'am. I spent forty three seconds over my esti..." She looked up and trailed off when she saw Neo. "And who is this?"

"This is Polly Ciara," answered Penny, holding her arms towards Neo like she was a game show prize. "She was a very good fighter in the first round of the tournament, although she was holding back."

"Fascinating," said the blue-haired woman in perfect monotone. Neo noticed a golden mark on her forehead, just beneath her hat. "I trust we can be on our way promptly."

"Of course," Penny said with finality. She took a few steps down the hallway, so the woman started to walk as well. Penny turned around so that she was walking backwards. "It was very nice speaking with... meeting you, Polly."

The other one wasn't watching - couldn't be bothered? - so Neo felt safe miming an answer. "ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴏ." Who knew if she was close enough to make it out.

* * *

The stadium was too large to see across. At least, if Neo were going for faces. Most students preferred the ringside seats, so all Neo had to find was a splotch of red and black.

She didn't see any, so Neo began strolling around the isle underneath the stands. If Ruby weren't here, then fine, she would have to wait until tomorrow.

Neo had never had this much free time under Torchwick. Of course, Torchwick was weak. He'd needed protection. And Torchwick was _public_ , so he'd needed it often. _Why_ had Neo let those girls run past her and capture him?

 _Three was a stretch. Two was fine, but three was a stretch. I didn't know what they could do. Those Schnee glyphs..._

"Polly?" Said a voice. It was Ruby, in the aisle behind Neo. Had Neo walked right by her seat?

No matter. Neo grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her into the nearest hallway. Nearly everyone was already seated for the fight about to start. Then she got out her scroll. ʀᴜʙʏ ɪ'ᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ.

"It's Ok, Polly. I know... well, I don't know, like _know_ know but I understand that you were going through a lot and how hard it must have been for you to say what you said. And thank you for trusting me."

Neo nodded and looked around the hallway. The last bystander was entering the stadium proper, lost in the sunlight and glare. She turned back to Ruby.

 _Want it._

"G-good morning."

Ruby's eyes widened, and she scooped Neo into a hug. "Polly, your voice is so beautiful! I love it!" With her head on Neo's shoulder she asked, "But, isn't is the afternoon?"

 _Last time she hugged me before I spoke. Things seem to be moving in reverse._ Neo disentangled herself from Ruby's arms and typed, sᴏʀʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴘʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴄᴇᴅ.

"Polly, that's amazing! We should -" one of the announcers said something over the P.A. "That's Weiss and Yang! Listen, I have to go watch them with Blake. But now that you can speak you definitely have to meet them. They'll love you! Really, especially Yang." Ruby kissed Neo on the forehead. "Tomorrow, at dinner. See you there!" She ran back into the stadium.

 _Fine then. Tomorrow._ Neo forgave the girl's misunderstanding. She was grinning too widely to care.


	9. Shout it Out Loud

**Shout it Out Loud**

"Good morning." Neo had already used that one, but it felt right to say. Warm. Familiar.

"Good evening." That one was next. Only half new, an easy transition. An adaptation of previous success.

"It's nice to meet you." A distant future. If there were words she knew she'd never say, it would be ones used to talk to strangers. Like it or not, Neo didn't see herself just giving her voice to anyone that walked by.

She'd have to let Ruby down gently. The girl seemed to think that speech equaled speech. There were rules. Protocols.

Well, no. There were _anxiety disorders_. But those were just a form of rule.

Meeting new people. Ruby's teammates. They'd seen her up close - especially Yang, the sister. Would they recognize her? Probably not. Cinder had been dismissive, but back then they'd just discussed incidental meetings, passing in halls. Cinder would change her tune if she knew Neo was about to get introduced to the gang as "look at my tiny silent friend."

Or were they all as nice and stupid as Ruby?

As stupid, yet nice...

Neo's scroll beeped. ᴅʀɪᴠᴇ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴍɪᴛʏ.

Neo sighed. "Fine then, Cinder," she spoke. Neo spoke out loud sometimes, just because she could. No time specified, so as soon as she could.

Neo's day _was_ free, at least until the evening. She'd never be caught _speaking_ to herself with other responsibilities on the line.

"Rush service is why I get paid. Also the killing." Neo became Lita and opened her front door - strange, she could almost feel her voice leaving her throat as the door squeaked on its hinges - and took the stairs down. She wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to a cabbie. It was only two blocks away from her real destination. And she'd seen others hand them addresses too. A common pattern. Not out of place or worth remembering.

Well, nothing for it but to act with confidence. Neo walked straight into the warehouse, past the interior white fang guards, and with their assistance pushed the main doors open. Then she boarded the medivac and took off. She didn't recognize any, though some seemed to recognize her. A little complimentary enforcement. Cinder and Adam could thank her later.

Nobody stopped a medivac in flight, and she was close within minutes. ɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ

ᴇᴀsᴛ ғʀᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴅᴏᴄᴋ. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴏᴀʀᴅ.

Two minutes later, Cinder was with her, wearing a paramedic's uniform. The woman threw Neo a shopping bag. "This should fit you. And it wasn't easy to find in your size." A matching set. How cute. Neo changed, with Cinder looking on.

"Now we wait." Amity throbbed with the sound of cheering. A match had begun.

Neo took out her scroll. ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ?

"A student will be tragically injured. We will take that student to get medical attention."

A student. She couldn't mean..?

 _No._ Cinder couldn't know about Ruby. And even if she did, they'd stolen the medivac far before things between them had gotten... whatever they were. Not serious. But whatever they were. Neo couldn't think of a good word for it. Was it friends?

She didn't have much experience with it, whatever it was.

A second round of cheering, cut short by something. The sound was still loud, whatever it was, but it didn't seem like applause. "That will be our cue." Cinder opened the docking door, stepped off the craft and closed it behind her.

It couldn't be..?

No. Ruby said her teammates were in the doubles round. It couldn't be her. That was just sleep deprivation and paranoia speaking.

The door opened again and Cinder was guiding a pair of medics with a stretcher. On the stretcher was Mercury. And following was, of course, Emerald. Neo couldn't recall seeing the two apart for long.

 _And she wouldn't bring me here just to teach me a lesson. That was just paranoia too._

Cinder guided the medics to deposit the pair, gave them a few reassurances, and closed the door behind her. Neo took off, headed back to the warehouse. Its location was somewhat isolated for a reason, although medivac traffic still seemed risky.

Mercury had faked a leg injury in a match. Wasn't sporting, but Neo didn't work with Cinder because the woman was sporting. They flew away, Cinder complimenting her pickup. Neo smiled.

 _She wouldn't teach me a lesson like this. If anything, she'd kill the girl and let me know via text._

Let the troubles of the world wait. They were meeting for dinner, in the mess. And Neo would _try_ to speak to her team. She wouldn't. But she would try.

Ruby would be so happy if she could.


	10. And So the Talking Stopped

**And So the Talking Stopped**

Neo arrived at 5:30, when the hall opened for dinner. She was feeling more like a student very day; all that was missing was actually going to class. She kept an eye on the door - Ruby always entered through the main door - and opened _Grim Defense_ to Vale's Volleys on her scroll. _Good evening. Good evening._ Stay alert. Don't miss her.

New level: _Vacuo Violation_. Ruby usually came in with her team around 5:50, so any minute now. What _would_ Cinder think if she saw? What was Cinder planning with team RWBY?

Neo would simply have to make things clear. Ruby was off-limits. She was claimed. Any plans Cinder had with the girl couldn't be worth Neo's bad side. Neo didn't want to see Cinder's bad side either, but it would be enough of a pain on both ends that Cinder would budge. The rest of RWBY... well. Neo wouldn't pick that battle unless they really impressed her.

 _Or unless I can speak to them._ New level: _Mistral Massacre_. But finding one was crazy enough. What would be the odds there would be another person at Beacon to hear her? A person willing to accept her, to support her, without demanding favors, asking questions, forcing...

Game over. ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀɪᴍᴍ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀʀᴜɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ. ᴄᴀʟʟ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴄɪᴛʏ ғᴏʀ ᴀɪᴅ? (1 ʟɪᴇɴ) ᴘʀᴇss ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍɪᴇs ɪɴᴛᴏ sᴇʀᴠɪᴄᴇ? (0.50 ʟɪᴇɴ)

Where _was_ that girl? The hall was beginning to empty.

Neo was used to severing ties with others. But in most cases, she was the one doing the severing. Of the ties, of the others. They used her, and took what they wanted. It was typical, really. Should've expected it. Find someone that doesn't _demand_ \- it just means you're the one demanding. Power flows one way or the other. Of course Ruby would decide Neo wasn't worth the effort. Of _course_ she would. Neo'd decided plenty of people weren't worth her time. In the past, Neo had decided she wasn't worth her own time. It was the logical choice. Why would anyone care?

 _There must be a reason._

Of course there is. There's always a reason. You should've helped more, you should've run faster, you shouldn't have worn what you wore. Reasons are cheap. All that matters is the result. Something had happened, or an epiphany had been reached. One way or another, a decision had been made, and Ruby hadn't come. There's always a decision.

Neo leaned back and closed her eyes; they'd gone pink anyway. Nobody had to see. Polly's eyes were silver. Always had been, unless anybody checked the footage. And why would they?

No, nobody had to see what was happening with Neo's eyes.

She stayed until the mess hall closed. Neo had always been stubborn.


	11. Time to Say Goodbye

**Time To Say Goodbye**

"How quaint." Cinder glanced around the apartment, gaze lingering on the picture frames on the walls, full of pictures of a family she shouldn't recognize. Neo agreed: room 211 was only her home as Cinder was concerned. Torchwick knew her real room. Others, like the white fang, thought she was across town. To the police and the public, she hopefully didn't live anywhere at all.

The room was a deception for one. And it wasn't even working.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴏʙ

"To the point. Still have your Atlesian threads?"

ᴏғ ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ

"You've got a big night ahead of you. You're about to earn your bonus."

Did Neo still want to... she didn't know. She couldn't decide. No. No she didn't. Ruby made her choice, so Neo would have to make hers.

But at the same time, Neo made a habit of regrets. As lifestyle choices go, or wasn't one she preferred.

ɪɴsᴛᴇᴀᴅ ᴏғ ᴍᴏɴᴇʏ, ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴀ ғᴀᴠᴏʀ.

"Oh?" it was a first, as far as Cinder knew.

So Neo would hedge her bets. ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴜʙʏ ʀᴏsᴇ ᴀʟɪᴠᴇ

Cinder sighed and took out her scroll. She was... was she checking the _time_? "Fine." she smiled. "Me and mine will avoid it if possible. And should an accident occur, I'll double your rate."

It was as much of a guarantee as she would get. ᴡʜᴏ ɴᴇᴇᴅs ᴛᴏ ᴅɪᴇ?

"Oh, you're going to _love_ this one."

* * *

The dropship lifted off from the pad and headed east. Unfortunately, Vale just wasn't Atlas. The path from the airfield to the front had the audacity to pass near a nonmilitary building.

The pilot either didn't know, or he didn't think it was close enough to be a problem. Or maybe he was just trained to conserve fuel.

Neo held her umbrella above her head and leapt from the roof. It wasn't flying, or even gliding, really. Neo could only fall.

Neo let go of the umbrella and tucked into a roll. The whole operation was blown if they heard her land. The umbrella drifted away as the plane moved so she grabbed the cane from her belt and hooked the handles together.

 _Oh dear. I'm afraid this may end up being_ too _fun._ Neo put them back, lay down on the ship's dome, and waited for landing.

The destroyer came into view, followed by two others. Sure, three to the east. But Neo had no idea they would be so _close!_ That didn't change the plan, it just made it much riskier.

Now that Neo had finished waiting, it was time for the main event: more waiting. She got out her scroll and opened back to page 411 in _Red: Dust And Its Applications, Part Four, As Compiled By The MDRF._ Below, the men unloaded boxes of whatever, set the craft to refuel, and left. There would almost certainly be a camera pointing at the door inside and another on the flight deck itself. Neo wouldn't go that way.

Her scroll vibrated. Neo was on the clock.

Neo inched up the dome to survey the landing area. If she jumped up from where she was, she'd pass over the cam's sightline. There were some windows overlooking the deck, so she waited for them to empty and jumped up the ship's wall.

At the top of the ship was a lookout's post. Neo slid her blade into the seal around a window and pried it open. It was the only spot on the ship where an open window would trigger a warning light instead of an alarm. And what luck, it was close to the comms center too. The ship's designer evidently thought they were more likely to need an analog communication fallback than get invaded by a woman with a combat umbrella.

The door to comms was closed. Neo kept walking and turned right. After a few more turns she passed an older man in an intersection. He walked a few more steps and then turned around to watch her.

It was the hat on her belt, or maybe her hair: Neo got to be Neo today. She kept walking, slowing a bit, and he followed.

He caught up to her mid-hall, next to a door below two cameras. Neo spun and hooked the cane around his neck, slamming his face into the door, then pulled the cane while kicking his back. Something cracked, and it wasn't aura.

 _What kind of soldier doesn't have unlocked aura?_

Neo removed the lanyard from the body and swiped his ID in the reader. The door unlocked to a dark room and she dragged the body inside. _The dead kind._

Neither hall camera was facing straight down. And given that there was no alarm, the room's interior camera wasn't being watched.

Back to comms.

The door opened without any fuss. One man and a woman, both turned from their consoles to look at her. Neo raised her umbrella and fired the front at the woman, then threw the sword towards the man. The umbrella, not open, bowled the woman over. Her sword sailed past the man into his console, showering him in sparks. While he ducked, Neo dashed to the woman and struck her with the cane, twice, three times, then back to the man and kicked him in the chest. When he went down she retrieved her sword and stabbed the woman in the neck.

Neo threw it again, knocking the scroll from the man's hand, along with a finger or two - no telling who he was dialing. With her free hand, she shook a reproachful finger. She slipped the cane back into her belt next to the hat, and took out her scroll.

sɪʟᴇɴᴛ ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ

The man nodded about a hundred times in five seconds and got onto his former partner's console. Neo watched him as he worked, but besides keys slipping on blood he seemed honest.

"All right, the ship's in" she killed him.

Torchwick. Torchwick! Captured on her watch, Cinder had _finally_ let Neo free him. Neo would've done this job for free. She left the comms room, ran into two guards wondering why their scrolls stopped working, and killed them with the cane for a change of pace. She'd have to go back to the flight deck first, to break any escape ships.

Neo giggled.

Let Ruby abandon her. Roman would _love_ to hear what Neo could do.


	12. He Says That He Needs Me

**He Says That He Needs Me**

"Well. It's about time."

Roman donned his hat, spun his cane from Neo's grasp, and rose. Then he burped, stretched his legs, and left his cell. He'd been easy to find, as the only prisoner on the ship. Its only resident. Neo smiled. Roman was Roman and that was all she wanted.

They left the cell and walked to the bridge. They stepped lightly: Neo's outfit was dry clean only, and Roman _hated_ blood on his clothes. The bridge, at least, was mostly clean. Neo'd been able to take her time there at the end. To be careful.

"All right, let's hear it. Hah." Roman loved his speech jokes. Neo smiled and brought up Cinder's message.

ɴᴇᴏ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍɪssᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙᴜʟʟʜᴇᴀᴅ sᴏ sʜᴇ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜɪs ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀ sʜɪᴘ. ᴡʜʏ ɴᴏᴛ sʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴇsᴛᴜʀᴇ. ᴄ

"Hmm. A bit on the nose, but she never was one for subtlety. A test drive, is it?"

Neo led Roman to the front console; she'd been sure not to give anyone a chance to lock it. The interface was fairly simple. At least driving, aiming, and shooting were. In other words, everything Roman would want to do. And what Roman wanted was what she wanted.

He got to it. Neo, realizing she was staring, blushed and got out her scroll. ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ɢᴏᴏᴅ.

Cinder's response was a file. ʀᴜɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʟᴜɢ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ. ᴄ. Neo handed Roman the scroll. At this point, what harm could it do? Neo was already the proud owner of an Atlesian destroyer. Well, Roman was sort of, but they both understood it was Neo's. Not that she'd do anything with it except let Roman use it.

"Oh ho ho! Now this one... this one's going to be fun." He plugged in the scroll. Some lights switched colors on the controls, but Neo didn't see what changed. What harm could it do? Surely the Atlesians wouldn't crumple from one charging dock.

No matter. Neo stepped forward. She wouldn't walk right up to Roman lest he hit her while gesticulating, but a little bit of proximity would be fine.

He heard her step, or felt it, or saw her reflection. "Neo, be a dear and ask Cinder how long I should keep doing this. I'll keep going, probably, but at some point I should start looking guilty about it." He tossed her scroll back in a wide arc over her head. Perhaps he didn't notice her move after all. She jumped back and opened her umbrella, scooping it from the air.

ᴀɴʏ ɴᴇᴡ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀs?

ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ғɪɴᴇ. ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ. ᴄ Neo couldn't see specifics from inside the ship, but she got the feeling it was a big night. The sky was dark. Occasionally she saw a griffin or nevermore through the glass. Were they still above the border? Just what was Cinder planning?

 _Whatever it is, my apartment had better be intact by the end._ She presented the message to Roman. "Ugh, how boring. As is I'm only breaking the law... of all four kingdoms at once, granted... but nobody's trust. Shoo! Me and my ship need to get to know each other better."

Neo stepped back, took a breath, and concentrated on enjoying the moment. Soon everything would be back to the way it was. That was what Neo wanted.

There was a clang somewhere in the back of the ship. "Go see what that is." Roman waved a hand.

So she went.

It was what she wanted.


	13. Psycho Killer

**Psycho Killer**

Neo slammed open the door. Something still didn't seem quite right with Roman. The sooner she dealt with whoever or whatever this was, the faster she could be back fixing things. Everything would be all right.

On the wing of the ship, watching a locker tumble off, stood Ruby Rose.

 _Me and mine will avoid it if possible._ Cinder's words floated through Neo's mind. Well, she'd succeeded. Ruby had made it here, to her.

 _Fine then._ Mustn't let it show. Ruby had made her choice. Neo's only mistake had been not committing to her own in turn. The betrayal _had_ to be mutual. Why she had a blind spot when it came to Ruby Rose Neo didn't know. Speech means nothing if it's just words.

 _Should an accident occur, I'll double your rate._ She might even get a windfall out of it. Cinder seemed like the type to reward the boldness. And asking _would_ be an act of boldness.

Neo stepped onto the wing. Ruby had seen her. She posed with her scythe, trying to look intimidating. Was it because Neo was the only person she'd ever fought smaller than her? _Sorry. I'm not scared of you._ Neo smiled. Her eyes were already pink - she was Neo, after all - but she felt them switch.

"I'm taking back this ship. For Ironwood and the people of Vale. And for Penny." _Ironwood? Penny? The orange girl? Just what is happening out here?_

Neo looked around. Nevermores clogged the skies. Bullheads and transports were swarming around the Academy and fairgrounds. Thick columns of smoke rose from all around the city below.

 _No distractions!_ Neo charged.

Neo liked to let people tire themselves out first, but she couldn't be reactive, let herself be thrown off her game. She drew her umbrella and thrust it towards the girl. With Ruby's scythe, it would be a game of balance. Once she let go or hit the ground, the game ended.

Ruby hooked Neo's umbrella in her blade and swung it to Neo's left. Neo completed the spin and stabbed again. Ruby hooked it from below, jumped, and fired. Neo's umbrella pulled her into the air.

 _Fine then._ Ruby landed in a crouch after her jump, the tip of her scythe poking a hole in the wing. Neo opened her umbrella and guided her fall onto the scythe's horizontal handle. Ruby looked at her, so Neo smiled.

It was still a loss, though. Ruby got Neo to open her umbrella. She was already better than half the adult hunters Neo had met. _If it weren't windy here, I wouldn't have needed it. Probably._

Ruby fired her gun again, and the handle jerked, her scythe digging a deep groove into the wing. Neo backflipped off and landed, feet on either side of the groove, and bowed.

Ruby backed up and retracted her blade. By the time she fired her first painfully telegraphed shot, Neo had her umbrella out in front of her. She batted the shots away one after another and advanced until Ruby was on the edge of the wing. The girl tried to re-extend her blade, and as it unfolded Neo ducked under the girl's guard, grabbed the handle in her left hand, and kicked Ruby off the wing. Girl and scythe fell without sound.

 _There. Done. I ended it. Even when they leave me, I'm still the one doing the ending._

Neo turned back and took a ragged breath. People were complicated. Far more complicated than fighting. Funny how ending a person just meant that their relationships, their loves, their hates... just _stopped_. The world becomes that much more understandable. All Neo had ever wanted to do was simplify. She took a step towards the door she'd left open.

What were _rose petals_ doing up this high?

A red avalanche slammed into Neo's back, bowling her over. She struck the wing with her umbrella and flipped over as she landed. Atop her, straddling her waist, was Ruby Rose.

How..? Semblance. Always the semblance. Something about speed. Had she _flown_?

The girl held her scythe in its gun form, muzzle against Neo's chin. Neo still had her umbrella in her right hand, under Ruby's knee. She could get out, but it might take a bullet to the head. It would hurt. She'd live. Her aura was full. And she would kill Ruby Rose again, as many times as it took.

"...Polly?" Ruby's chin was quivering. Ruby was staring into Neo's eyes. Neo's silver eyes.

 _Oh no._

But she'd been fighting. Fighting means fun, and fun means pink! How did...

"Is this... Is this some sort of joke? Were you planning this all along? After what you did to my sister, you come up to me, you lie to me..." Neo shut her eyes, but it was her whole face doing the burning. "You make me your friend, you come into my room, you keep me up at night thinking how I can _help_ you, while you and your people are attacking Beacon, attacking Vale, attacking Yang!" The loud sound and pain in her head and neck meant Ruby had fired. _Get. Out._ "My SISTER!" She fired again. Neo's aura cracked. Her ears were ringing. She would have to get out now, or Ruby would kill her.

Neo opened her eyes and saw the muzzle had moved from her chin to her forehead. She spun her head around from under it and forward, knocking the barrel slightly aside. Then she sat up and headbutted Ruby, which besides splashing her dress removed the pressure of her knee. Neo reversed her umbrella grip with her right hand while she grabbed Ruby with her left. Then she lifted her upper body off the wing while hooking Crescent Rose and pinning its barrel down, holding it in her right armpit.

So Ruby extended the blade again, which snaked under Neo's body. If Neo moved back, with no aura, she'd be sliced in half. If Ruby fired, crescent rose would jerk up, and she'd be sliced in half. If Neo let go of Ruby - she couldn't hold her bend at the stomach - she'd be sliced in half. She held on for her life.

 _Sloppy. Of course this is how you'd go. Every time you let your feelings get in the way, keep you attached to people who don't deserve it, don't deserve you..._

Ruby's dress occupied Neo's entire field of view. _Or people you don't deserve._ Fine. Maybe she didn't. But she wasn't going to die like this. She wouldn't be killed by Ruby Rose.

First, Neo dropped her umbrella.

She brought up her right hand slowly, until she was sure Ruby could see it was empty. Both were silent. Neo still couldn't see anything except for Ruby's shallow breaths and, in the corner of her eyes, her windblown cape.

So Neo took her hand and moved it down. Slowly. Painfully slowly. Down to her waist, where she took out her scroll. Then, with one hand, she typed blindly, holding the scroll where Ruby would be able to see it.

"Explain then."

Neo kept typing.

"Give me a reason not to pull this trigger, Polly." Ruby wasn't asking. She was begging. _She's not a killer. Not like you._

She typed some more.

"You're welcome." Ruby's voice cracked.

Neo typed more. Ruby was silent for a few seconds, and then Crescent Rose folded back up and Ruby hung it back on her belt. She got off of Neo and stood up.

Neo stood up too, looking at her screen. ɪ ǫʟsᴏᴇʀʏ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴡxᴘʟᴀɪɴ. ɪ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʟɪʀᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴀsᴍʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴏʀ ʜᴇʟ[ᴘɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ. ɪ ᴡᴀɪᴛᴇᴅ ғᴘʀ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇss ғᴏʀ ғɪᴠʀ ʜᴏᴜʀs ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ʏᴏʀ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ.

Neo stared up at Ruby's face. Her vision was blurred. Ruby looked near in tears as well.

"Red? What are you doing to my Neo? I'll have you know I called dibs."

Neo turned to face the door. Roman stood in it, his cane pointed towards them. Barrel uncapped.

"And Neo? I'll be honest, that _really_ didn't look up to your level. But I'm always ready for an encore to prove me wrong."


	14. So Much to Give

**So Much to Give**

Neo decided who got to live.

She was already between Roman and Ruby. She walked towards the man, stopped halfway down the wing, and shook her head.

"Neo, this really isn't like you. Let's just kill the mini-huntress and be on our way. Clearly you've changed without my stabilizing presence in your life, but after a just-for-two weekend getaway everything will fall perfectly into place again." He gestured with his cane for her to scoot over.

Neo shook her head.

"Polly, Roman is a very bad man and I need to see him answer for his crimes. My team is fighting down there. People are dying! And they will keep dying unless we take this ship out of the sky."

Ruby planted her scythe's blade in the wing and pointed the barrel. Neo turned around and shook her head.

"Polly, Yang was framed for an attack. That's why I didn't make it to dinner. And I'm sorry. I really am." Ruby looked sad. Her hand tightened around the trigger.

"But you can't stop me."

Neo dived out of the way as she fired. Roman knocked the shot away with his cane, but Ruby was already there. She swung left, right, and it was all Roman could do to defend. Finally he got behind her and ran out onto the wing himself. Both fired.

 _No. no. No!_ Neo ran between the two, opened her umbrella, and blocked both shots. _I can stop them both. All I have to do is be perfect._ They fired again. She spun and blocked. Roman growled and dodged around her, so she flipped over to him, grabbed his wrist and flung him away.

"Neo, this is NOT THE TIME for your dramatic posturing." He rose. "You've trusted me this far. Now trust me enough when I say you're going to get hurt if you stay here."

Ruby dashed - she curled up into her cape somehow - and sprang around Neo to Roman. As she swung her scythe, Neo grabbed her foot and threw her through the open door into the ship.

Neo landed hard on the side of the wing, her umbrella pulled in a gust of wind. Ruby got her rifle set up again and fired on Roman. A shot connected.

"Stop!" someone yelled. Neo looked around. It was herself. Both stared.

Roman broke the silence. "You listen to me, Neopolitan. I made you. I _named_ you."

 _I let myself get too attached. I got blind. To both._ Neo got up and walked towards the door. "Now if you think you're going to ruin this for our boss, ruin it for me, I have some terrible news for you." Neo closed her umbrella and fired it through the doorway. It sailed right past Ruby holding her scythe out to block, and into the door controls, closing her off from the pair on the wing. Neo took her blade and drove it through the external keypad. There was a muffled sound from inside. It might have been shouting. Neo might have imagined it.

 _You wanted the ship. Take it._

Neo placed her bare blade on her belt and got out her scroll. ᴛʜᴇ sʜɪᴘ ɪs ʜᴇʀs. ʟᴇᴛ's ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪɴ

Roman shot his cane. Neo's scroll flew from her hands, along with two fingers and a thumb. He smiled at her.

Neo focused.

Torchwick wasn't her father. He wasn't her uncle. He wasn't her buyer. He wasn't her owner. They didn't have power over her any more. He was her boss. Her boss by choice. She would just have to do to him what she did to the rest. Her right hand didn't matter. Not yet.

 _But I didn't get a chance to tell you what I would say._ Torchwick shot again. Neo dodged it and rushed him. He swung his cane; she caught it in her hand and kicked him, but he didn't let go. She kicked him again. _Let go or take more._ He lost his grip and tumbled back. Neo dropped the cane and kicked it off the ship, now tilting downwards, and advanced.

"Neo, we can still salvage this. We are vital to Cinder's plans. If we get back in there and you stop! Disrespecting! Me! We can keep"

Neo kicked him off the ship too. She couldn't kill him. Not today. More weakness. Maybe the fall would do it.

The ship kept tilting downwards. Ruby must have already abandoned it. It was aimed at a kingdom border, but it didn't look like it was going to clear the wall.

 _This is what I get for throwing away my umbrella. And my..._ Neo made fists. She was losing blood fast. _Act before thinking. Scream and cry and fix it later. No aura._

Neo jumped onto the top of the ship and walked to the front, just above the bridge. The ship was accelerating. As the wall neared she started running back up the ship, not quite outpacing the fall, but keeping her mostly still. Then the nose impacted and she jumped sideways for the wall's walkway.

She landed in a roll and ran from the crash. The wall was crumbling outwards from the point of impact. Neo was running on pure adrenaline. She had to get off the wall before she felt her wounds. Before the ship exploded.

It did. Neopolitan wondered, _why was I ever scared?_ And then she didn't wonder anything more.


	15. It Goes On

**It Goes On**

"I'm sorry."

That voice again. Ruby had never heard her speak the words, but they still sounded just like her. Just right. How Polly would sound if she'd said them.

 _Neo._ Polly. Neopolitan. It had been so transparent. But how could she have known? There was so much to distract her. So much she'd ignored.

A quiet thump, and Ruby opened her eyes. All the times she'd dreamed of the words, they'd never been followed by more sounds. She'd woken up plenty, sure, but each time she'd fallen back asleep. Because the words were never real.

Ruby moved her blanket and lifted Nora's arm from her chest - the girl tended to spread across the tent - and rose. It was Jaune and Ren on duty tonight. Ruby slipped through the flap and zipped it back up; aura kept the cold at bay, for a little while.

Jaune turned from the fire and smiled his sad smile. It was the only one he had any more. "Can't sleep?"

"Hi Jaune." Ruby smiled. "Nah, I just thought I heard something. Besides Nora snoring. You and Ren don't know how lucky you are."

"Well, _you_ don't have to sleep next to Ren."

Ruby cringed. It had been her squeamishness that led to the two-tent solution, but maybe they _should_ try putting Nora and Ren together. The two seemed used to each other's company.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Jaune rose and put his hand on her shoulder. "I got used to sleeping through anything back at home." He gave a fading laugh. "Really, the only one with a problem..."

Jaune stopped speaking.

Ruby looked up at Jaune's face. His trembling chin. _I should have been faster. I should have stopped it._ Taking a deep breath, Ruby pulled him into a hug. Well, his torso, at any rate. His head went straight over her shoulder.

"What," Jaune made a sound suggesting some form of involuntary organ compression, "is that?"

Ruby released him and turned. Poking out from behind her tent, in a patch clear of snow... First Ruby took it for a very tiny grimm. No, it was a mask. Like the ones from the white fang.

"Jaune, get Ren." Ruby reached for her belt and felt air. _Of course._ She dashed into her tent and placed a hand over Nora's mouth, stopping a snore. Ruby bent down. "There's something behind the tent," she whispered.

Nora nodded and reached for Magnhild. Ruby picked up Crescent. "Circle around."

Nora left the tent. After a count of two, Ruby opened Crescent and sliced the back of the tent down the middle.

She dashed through the cut. "Stop right..." her foot hit something. Nora appeared to her right, and Jaune to her left, Crocea in hand. The two saw her and looked down at her feet.

It was hard to make out with the tent blocking the fire, but he looked mostly intact. The only visible problem areas were missing fingers, a deep gouge into his chest, and a pit in his red hair where his second horn should have been. He wore black and red, although some of that might have been the blood.

Horns. Red hair. Yang and told her about this. Blake had drawn this. She thought nobody else had seen, but Ruby always had her sniper's eyes. The leader of the white fang, Adam Taurus.

The body held a sheathed sword in one hand, and a note was sticking out of his other. Nora and Jaune watched as Ruby bent down to pull it out. She stepped around the tent, almost bumping into Ren, and read it in the firelight.

 _Don't expect this to become a habit._

And underneath, in a messier script:

 _But yes. I am. n-p_

Ruby wasn't one for killing, but she couldn't do anything about it now. Besides, she'd heard what the man had done. To Blake, to Yang. It was almost sweet.

"What does it say?" asked Ren.

She _would_ have to do something. To stop Neo. To stop more death. And she knew she'd have no victory in strength.

"Someone... someone's on our side."

Six words Ruby had gotten to hear. Six precious, beautiful words. She would remember them all, even if two of them were the same.

They would tide Ruby over until she heard more.

 **Words, Volume 1 - End**


	16. Blake Says (Words: Reunion)

**Words, Volume 2: Reunion.**

 **Blake Says**

It was Blake's first time in Mistral.

Adam had spoken of it, in his rare bouts of wistfulness. It's wasn't an emotion he wore comfortably. The mere act of staying still tended to cramp him, to say nothing to looking back. _Find a target and charge. Maybe he gets it from bulls._

 _Got it from bulls._

The past tense being the reason for Blake's current errand. She slid open the shutter and crawled through. She didn't catch a single frill on the shards of broken glass around the window's borders.

 _Maybe I get it from cats._

Once inside, she lowered herself to the floor and stood up. The room was mostly empty. A small table in one corner, missing a leg, leaning to one side. Next to it, a door on one hinge leading to the dilapidated hallway. On the opposite wall, a threadbare bed with no sheets. A perfectly average room to find in an abandoned building. Even most squatters wouldn't give it a second glance.

Which was why it was chosen by the woman lying in the bed. It was Blake's fourth try. _Finally_. The woman lay on her back, legs straight, eyes closed, arms crossed across her chest, holding something flat. Her outfit was white, pink, and brown, to match her hair. Blake had seen her twice before. Both times helping Roman Torchwick. Once, almost killing Yang. Blake's partner she'd been too _busy_ to defend.

Blake placed Gambol Shroud to the woman's neck. "Wake up. I have questions."

Slowly, the woman raised her hands. The item she was clutching was a scroll, and it was on. On the screen were the words, ʏᴏᴜ sᴛᴇᴘᴘᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɢʟᴀss ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴ.

Was it a trap? Did she hear Blake coming? Did she just have that message ready all the time when she slept? Despite the weather, Blake started to sweat.

"Listen, I just want answers and then I'll let you go, so..." Blake pressed down on her neck to give the woman's aura a buzz. Instead, her entire body shattered into shards of glass.

A semblance, one she'd seen before. Blake spun. The woman was sitting on the broken table, which with her weight was leaning precariously to one side. She held her scroll in her left hand and typed more, not even looking at Blake. Blake drew Gambol out fully, realized she was just doing to to reassure herself, and lowered her hands down to her waist.

The woman showed Blake her newest message. She'd increased the text size, to accommodate the new distance. ɪ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ.

"How would you kill Adam Taurus?"

She went back to her scroll. Taking her eyes off of Blake _again_. Blake's hands tightened. It would be _so easy_...

ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜɪᴛ ʜɪs sᴡᴏʀᴅ ʜᴇ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏᴏ ʜᴀʀᴅ. ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ's sᴇᴇɴ ʜɪᴍ ғɪɢʜᴛ.

Blake frowned. The woman smiled. You don't become leader of the white fang without knowing how to fight. Not this white fang. Not Adam's white fang. It takes the mightiest to decide that might makes right.

"Fine then." _She doesn't want to say who helped her, or what trick she used, that's fine._ " _Why_ did you kill him? You work with him."

The woman held up a reproachful finger. Blake noticed a dearth of more on her hand, but then she kept typing fast as ever. ᴡᴏʀᴋᴇᴅ, ᴘᴀsᴛ ᴛᴇɴsᴇ. ʟɪᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜ.

"Like me? _I_ never killed him. I..."

ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴇᴀᴋ. ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ.

"I don't get it." Blake sat down on the bed. Springs creaked. "We're losing. Why switch sides? Why now? Why..." Cinder was pushed back, but they'd lost Beacon. Lost Ozpin. Lost half of Vale. And lost others. People Blake had cared for. Some had died.

ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴅᴏ ɪᴛ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʟᴀᴋᴇ ʙᴇʟʟᴀᴅᴏɴɴᴀ. ɪ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴇsᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ.

"And so that's how you tell me." A handwritten note and a horn torn out of her former partner's head. It wasn't a very good overture of peace. It was a message of ignorance and bloodlust. A gun that just happened to fire in the right direction.

ɪᴛ's ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ᴏɴ ʜᴀɴᴅ. Funny, her talking about her hand. It had been fine when she'd fought Yang.

"I think you're lying to me. I don't think you go around killing people you work with and then telling people they were close to and then letting them follow you back to where you sleep." It felt unusual to be the talkative one in a conversation. Somehow, Blake had found her way there by default. "I think you want me to do something. You want me to stop you. Or... you want to kill me too." It felt odd saying it out loud. Blake kept her stance light. Diving through the small window might be hard at speed, but she could break the door off its hinge in a hurry if she had to dash. The more the woman talked... typed, the less Blake liked the matchup.

Alive or dead, Adam was right about that. All she could do was run away.

ɪ ᴛᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ. ʜɪs ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ʜᴀs ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴏғ ᴍᴇᴀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ.

"And the horn?"

ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴏʀʀʏ, ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴏғ ɪᴛ. ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɢɪᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʀᴏᴏғ.

Most. A smile tugged at the corner of the woman's lip. Was she telling the truth? Blake was getting tired of her implications. "His death means a lot to a lot of people."

ɪ ᴛᴏʟᴅ sᴏᴍᴇ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡᴇʀᴇɴ'ᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇɢᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ғᴀɴɢ's ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ.

Blake's bow twitched as the pieces fell into place. "You _do_ want something from me!"

ᴛʜᴇʏ'ᴠᴇ sᴘʟɪᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ғᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs. ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ᴛᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍsᴇʟᴠᴇs ᴀᴘᴀʀᴛ. The woman shrugged, her face coy.

"And you want me to go back to them? Why? To unite them?" Why her? Why now?

The woman's expression got much more severe. ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴏᴡɴ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ.

Meaning it's somewhere Blake would have gone on her own. "You're attacking Cinder."

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ. Then the woman closed her scroll, swung the room's door open, and left as it keeled off of its hinge and onto the floor.

Was it a joke, from a murderer like her? A dodge, avoiding the question entirely? A denial, that she's avoiding the death such a confrontation would bring? An innocent statement of fact, like how Adam had hated violence too, at first?

A warning not to follow?

Blake lay down on the mattress. It was hard, and a spring poked her between her shoulders. No wonder the woman hadn't been sleeping when Blake arrived.

But Blake could sleep anywhere, and still be awake when she had to be. That, she got from cats.


	17. Another Day

**Another Day**

Neo wasn't just good for killing. She knew how to save as well. How to protect.

She leaned back to dodge the ursa's paw, then stabbed it through the neck before the follow-through. It fell off the hill and into a snowbank, where the body dusted. Neo ran for a second Ursa, jumping over it and stabbing it through the neck.

 _All right. So my protection is done by killing. What of it?_

This job in particular was rather unusual. She could let the grimm attack her charges. Had to, in fact. Just not these ones.

The third ursa turned and ran. Neo stood still, and thought of home. The ursa slowed, looked over its shoulder, and finally reversed direction.

 _Negative emotion. Have a feast._

The Ursa reached her. Neo embedded her blade in its neck and ducked under the body, but couldn't yank it back out in time. The ursa tumbled to the cliff but dusted before falling off. Neo's umbrella fell through the evaporating grimm into the snow, where she picked it back up. For a thin blade against a fat grimm, the neck was the most reliable location, but her left hand was having trouble with some of the high strikes.

The second group of grimm would be approaching from the north, which was just fine. The odd thing about moving a group containing Ruby was, they would always move _towards_ the danger. Made it hard to corral them, but not impossible.

"Well, well, well. I was wondering why the grimm have been light recently."

Standing on the edge of the cliff was a man. He was dressed in muted colors, with a tattered red cape, and held a long sword casually in one hand. He had short black hair and stubble. Between his weapon and his height, he would barely need skill to keep Neo from getting close.

 _Well, I still could. But long weapons are a problem._

"I don't remember seeing you before. What's your angle? And don't tell me you've been taking the same path as us by chance."

It's the most direct route from the docks to the kingdom. Was what Neo would say, if she could say anything at all. Instead she stood still and met his gaze. She was close to his height, since she was too light to fall through the nearly two feet of snow.

Even ten feet away, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

Neo knew who this was. Qrow. The uncle. He would be an additional complication.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Qrow stepped forward. "You don't want anybody to know you're here. But you're killing grimm that approach. It puts me in a very awkward position, you see." He held his sword out towards her. "If you're on my side, I shouldn't kill you. But if you're on my side, you wouldn't stay so quiet all the time. You know, like now."

Neo took a step back and shook her head. If he didn't think about typing, he wouldn't demand quite so many answers out of her. And he was probably too drunk to think of typing.

"Now, listen. This non-intervention thing is working out real great, but eventually I have to sleep, and while I think the world of my rangers, I'm not about to take chances with them." He took another step forward, crunching into the snow. His sword nearly poked Neo's nose. "And you, I think, have to sleep some time too. So maybe we should work this out when we're both here to contribute, huh?"

Neo pointed her blade at the snow under her feet and carved some letters. He wouldn't ask as much if she communicated this slowly. It was a bit sloppy writing upside down, but she wrote out _travel safer together_.

"Mute?" Qrow grunted, studying Neo's face. She nodded.

"So let me guess. You don't get along with other people."

Neo held up her right hand. The scar tissue was bright on her skin.

Neo faintly made out the orange girl's yell from over in the forest. Qrow flicked his eyes between Neo and the trees down the hill. _Go on. See that they're all right._ The grimm she hadn't stopped would be reaching the four. It wasn't enough to pose a fight, besides maybe one alpha.

But it would get them where they needed to go.

Qrow shifted his stance and tried to point his sword towards Neo, only to realize he was already holding it there. "All right. We're approaching civilization. I don't want to see you again come nightfall." Then he turned and stepped down the cliff. Neo never heard him land.

 _That went about as well as could be expected._

If he'd realized Neo had snuck a corpse into their camp earlier, he probably wouldn't have been so dismissive.

Nightfall. Ruby and her friends would arrive by nightfall. This group of grimm _should_ be enough. They only needed to go a bit further northeast.

Qrow didn't understand yet. And he was hiding his presence: Neo hadn't noticed him, so it was unlikely the students had. Would he reveal himself to stop them, once he saw where their path led?


	18. So Sorry to Say

**Sorry to Say**

The shouting stopped.

Ruby had tried, in her own way, to teach Neo of friendship.

Of course, Neo already knew plenty. She knew from Roman that a friend was someone you spent time with whose interests align with yours. They were only a friend, though, if they weren't worth betraying. He hadn't said any of it in those words, but Neo never put much stock in words.

Sobs drifted up the stairs.

Still, Neo wasn't very good with people. Instead she did her best to be good _at_ people.

Neo took out her scroll. She opened _Grim Defense_ , looked at the level, and closed it again. Somehow, failing to prevent Vale's destruction at the claws and paws of nevermores and usras seemed wrong.

There was a sound on the stairs. Neo snuck into a bedroom and out its window, closing but not locking it behind her. It's possible someone would have heard a gust of wind through it when she left, but the bedroom door had been mostly closed, and it wasn't actively snowing. She jumped from the windowsill onto a convenient branch and waited. There wasn't much light on the grounds, and what light there was emanated from the first-floor windows.

The next window over from Neo's exit lit up. A girl, tears in her eyes, was showing Ruby inside. _The sister._ Then she left the huntress to the room.

Ruby sat down on the bed and took in the room. Then she took off her backpack and pulled some clothes out. Neo jumped from the branch onto her windowsill, before she saw anything Ruby wouldn't want. Ruby startled and stared at her through the window, calculating something. After a moment, she opened the window and let Neo in.

"Aren't you cold?" asked Ruby. Neo shook her head. It wasn't cold cold, just the cold that people got used to. And she hadn't been outside for more than a few minutes.

"Neo, what are you doing here?"

Neo got out her scroll. ɪ'ᴍ ʜᴇʀᴇ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know I'd be here until I was here. It's so..." Ruby stopped. "Jaune and... and Juniper. They're still downstairs telling stories about her. Her parents. I couldn't..." She looked down. "I mean, I knew, if I thought about it, I knew that they wouldn't know. I just never thought I'd be here telling them."

ᴘʏʀʀʜᴀ's ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs ᴀʀᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ ɴᴏᴡ. Seeing Ruby's confusion, Neo continued. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡɪʟʟ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪᴋᴏs.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "We're staying together, Neo. We're a team now. Ren even thought of a name for us. Orange, R R N J." She paused. "Jaune kept trying to think of one starting with J, but the best he could come up with was Journey."

Why was Ruby being so difficult? Couldn't she see? Neo decided to simplify it for her. ʀᴀɪɴ. ʀɴ.

Ruby reached a hand back to touch her scythe. "Neo, what do you expect me to do right now?"

Live past tomorrow. Isn't that what friends wish for each other? ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ. ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ʜᴇʀ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪᴋᴏs ɢɪʀʟ ᴄᴀɴ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ.

Ruby frowned. "You really don't know me, do you. I'm here in mistral to save the world, if I can. And nothing is going to stop me from trying."

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.

"Neo, you _killed_ Adam."

Neo cocked her head. _Yes, and?_

"You can't just... you can't kill people. I refuse to believe that's the best way to fix things."

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ

"I don't know. Whatever I have to. It's complicated."

Ruby threw her head back onto the bed, and held her hand up to block the ceiling light. "I thought there would be easy answers to it all, Neo. But here I am telling... listening to Jaune tell Pyrrha's family that she's dead. And then telling them I saw it happen and I couldn't stop it. If I could have killed Cinder to save Pyrrha..." She made a fist. "I wouldn't feel good, but I'd do it."

ʏᴏᴜ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜɪs. Neo held her scroll above Ruby's head so she could read it.

"The fact that I'm doing it anyway should tell you how much I think it has to be done."

It was Neo's turn to frown. Ruby looked over. "Say, what color are your eyes naturally?"

Neo's eyes were silver. When had that happened again? ʀᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘɪɴᴋ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ'ᴍ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴɢʀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ɪɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ. sɪʟᴠᴇʀ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴀʀᴇ ʙᴀᴅ. ᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴡɪsᴇ, ᴡʜᴀᴛᴇᴠᴇʀ ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ.

ᴡʜʏ

"What happened to your hand?"

ɪ ʟᴏsᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ғɪɴɢᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ᴛʜ

"Yes, I can't see that!" interrupted Ruby. "How?"

ɢʀɪᴍᴍ

Ruby looked at the hand, then at Neo's face, and nodded.

"Neo, I have one more team name for you. Orange." She grabbed Neo's left wrist to keep it still and started typing letters into Neo's scroll. ʀʀɴɴᴊ

Neo yanked her hand away. ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.

Ruby sat up. "Then join us. You took on me and Roman at the same time with no Aura. You beat Yang and Adam. Imagine what you could do with all of us. Fighting for good."

Living is good. Comfortable living is better. Learning. Reading. Fighting is good, although grimm weren't nearly as fun. Neo was not, however, stupid enough to enter into a fight she would lose. A chance to lose, yes. Kept things interesting. Not a certainty.

Neo shook her head, opened the window, and climbed out. Her actions disturbed a bird on the windowsill, but the night was otherwise quiet. Neo didn't...

Ruby didn't get it. Couldn't, maybe. Why die when you can live? Why spend a week or longer in agony before falling, accomplishing nothing?

Neo kept to the trees to avoid tracks, and jumped to the edge of the Nikos estate. Their wall was necessarily high, given the rural location, but they had no property cameras. Neo jumped off the other side and dug into a snowdrift until she found her pack. She pulled out her sleeping bag and tucked in, inside her makeshift cave. She'd be all right sleeping: It was a very expensive sleeping bag. Aura drained, but all right. She didn't fully zip up. Between the grieving family and Neo being out of meds, there was every chance she'd be waking up quickly.

But she'd be all right. Ruby, on the other hand...

A gust of wind brought more snow on top of her mound, so she made sure to keep her opening clear. It also brought a bird down, tumbling through the air and onto the snow next to her.

Outside the walls of a rural estate at night in the middle of winter. Half-buried in snow with winds raging on by. "Hello, bird." Isolated enough for speech.

The bird righted itself and hopped closer to her. It was sleek and black. The kind of bird that's out of place in the wintertime. "Are you lonely?"

She reached into her pack and pulled out a multibar, crumbling a few pieces off the end, and spread them across the snow for the bird. The bird looked at the crumbs and back at her.

"She says she still wants to fight. To die. I don't get it. Why do people walk to their deaths?"

The bird flew away.


	19. The Comeback

**The Comeback**

Either Neo hadn't been off her meds in so long she didn't remember how they interacted with her emotions, or she underestimated just how much sadness a family of 3 could contain. Either way, the mistake cost her most of a night's rest, her aura, and a very expensive sleeping bag.

Grimm were curious creatures. While a human will do all it can to cling to life in any form, grimm seemed to just snap after a certain amount of damage. Lack of Aura, or soul, or whatever the reason, Grimm were up one moment and gone the next. Usually.

Neo shouldered her pack, dragged the beowolf to the estate's gate, and rang the intercom. She probably hadn't needed the prop, but she'd been wired on enough adrenaline that it had felt like a good idea and now she didn't want to waste it.

The screen flickered on, showing the face of the Nikos girl. She had bags under her eyes. "Yes, who's calling?"

Neo held up her scroll to the camera. She'd already written her message. ɪ ᴊᴜsᴛ sᴘᴇɴᴛ ғᴏᴜʀ ʜᴏᴜʀs ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴘᴀᴄᴋs ᴏғ ʙᴇᴏᴡᴏʟᴠᴇs ɴᴇᴀʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ. ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴜɴᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ. ᴍᴀʏ ɪ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇsᴛ?

"Uhh..." said the Nikos.

Neo moved aside to show the camera her beowolf. It had taken five tries, but she managed to leave one alive while severing its spine. It whimpered softly in the snow, leaking blood.

 _Good a time as any._ Neo stabbed it through the chest. The body broke up and flaked away.

"I'll be right there," said the speaker. The camera shut off with a click. Neo took a breath, held, and released. Her eyes were threatening red and that wasn't the mood she needed to play.

The gate opened the sound of whirring servos, and the Nikos girl was on the other side. She was tall, although not as tall as her sister, and Ruby's age or a little older. She had blonde hair and wore a full bronze breastplate, a silver bracelet, a red skirt with inlaid bronze trim, and red pants into bronze-toed boots. It was, almost literally, the poor woman's Pyrrha Nikos outfit.

She looked tired and sad, obviously. She bowed and straightened. "Sorry. I was up. I was waiting. I knew that they'd come, I was so... I didn't know you were outside fighting. I'm sorry."

Neo got her scroll. ɪᴛ's ᴀʟʟ ʀ

A bird flapped past the wall's corner, shrieking alarm.

Neo dropped her scroll, drew her umbrella, and brought her right knee to the snow. Whatever was there, she wouldn't take the first blow.

With her umbrella blocking the corner, she had a full view of the Nikos girl take out a thick metal rod and hurl it past. mid-flight it grew as long as Neo was tall and popped a small blade out of the front end.

Standing back up, Neo saw a gored beowolf begin to fade away. _That was it? I needn't have worried._ And Neo knew enough about Pyrrha to recognize this girl's weapon as a discount copy.

The girl held up her hand. Her spear lept up from the ground and flew into it, collapsing as it did so. "Sorry about that. Missed one. Anyway. I'm Nubukha Nikos, Call me Nubu, and yes as in Pyrrha Nikos." She rattled it off like she was reading off a page. After a moment she looked down and sucked her lips into her mouth. _Realizing what she said._

Neo picked up her scroll. ᴘᴏʟʟʏ ᴄɪᴀʀᴀ. ɴɪᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ. Felt odd to identify as Polly in her pinks, but there was a small chance someone in mistral would know her name.

Nubu nodded and led Neo through the gateway, onto a winding path past rows of dead-looking plants and empty plots. "Welcome to house Nikos. It's been the seat of the Nikos line..." She faltered. "The seat of the Nikos line for eight generations." She looked at Neo and blinked a few times. "Eight generations."

Neo blushed and started typing, to avoid more eye contact. ɪ'ᴍ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴀ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs ғʀᴏᴍ ᴠᴀʟᴇ.

"We just had visitors from Vale. We... Last night. They came and..." Nubu gulped. "They're still here. They stayed in the guest rooms." They were nearly to the front steps of house, a rectangular box in the center of the property.

 _Well, if it will get me out of this conversation._ ʀᴜʙʏ ᴡᴇɪss ʙʟᴀᴋᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴀɴɢ ғʀᴏᴍ ʙᴇᴀᴄᴏɴ.

"Yes, she's here." Nubu opened the front door. "Ruby is here. She's in the back. I can... I'm sorry about the beowolves. I was ready for them."

Nubu led Neo through an ornate two-story entrance hall to an almost-as-ornate hallway. They passed rooms with books, carved furnishings, and stained-glass windows. Just before the end of the hall, Nubu turned into an open door, Neo behind her.

The room was still fancy, but it looked newer and less expensive than the rest of the house. It contained some cabinets and a central table, about which Ruby and her friends sat.

Nubu bowed. "Miss Rose, this is Polly ci-"

"Neo!" Ruby jumped from her seat, smiling.

"Neo!" shouted Jaune, rising and drawing his sword.

Neo took a step backwards. Nubu's eyes flickered from person to person. People started talking all at once.

"Yang said she worked for Torchwick," said Jaune. "Put the sword away and sit down, Jaune," said Ruby. "Who's she? Do we have a problem?" asked The orange girl, Nora.

Neo couldn't hear individual words any more. Jaune stepped forward. Nora drew her hammer. The quiet boy drew a pistol and asked the the orange girl a question.

"BE QUIET!" shouted Nubu. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora's weapons flew out of their hands and into the room's walls. The silverware shot across the table, with a fork embedding itself in the room's back door. One of the room's cabinets screeched across the floor. Nubu herself was thrown out the door and into the hall, where she hit the opposite wall and fell over, clutching her stomach.

"Take it outside," came her voice from her crumpled form.

Neo nodded at Ruby and stepped out into the hallway. She offered Nubu a hand, but the girl waved it away, so Neo walked back out the front door. As she left, she saw RRNJ picking up their weapons.


	20. Talk to Me

**Talk to Me**

"So, are you telling me that's _not_ Neopolitan?" Jaune gestured down the front steps to her.

"No, Jaune, it absolutely is her," answered Ruby, holding her scythe in a carefully neutral direction. "If she could talk she'd say the same thing."

"The same one that beat up Yang."

"Yes."

The group remained silent for a moment, although the beacon students had a choice in the matter. Neo's hand tensed around her umbrella hilt. Almost no aura. she would have to run if more than one attacked. Well, unless it was exactly two and one was Jaune.

"And she's on our side now because..."

"Jaune, when I saw Ironwood's ship crash and I went to take back the skies, I found two people on the ship. Neo helped me defeat Torchwick. She probably saved my life."

Neo wanted to join the conversation, but she couldn't risk letting go of her umbrella.

Ruby turned to her. "Neo, you killed Adam, right?"

 _She knows, she just wants the others to see._ Neo nodded.

The quiet boy spoke. "Where was the ship's crew?"

There was more silence. Neo resettled her stance, wide feet, umbrella down, ready to sweep up and pop open. The others readied strikes, each in their own way.

"She saved my life," said Ruby again, more quietly.

The front door opened behind the beacon students, and Nubu joined them on the porch. _She looks well enough to stand. Past that I'm not hopeful_.

Ruby walked down the stairs one by one. When she reached the bottom, she crunched through the snow for a few steps until she stood in front of Neo. She turned around to look up at her classmates.

"She's cold, Jaune. Can we go inside and get her something warm to drink?"

Neo was shivering. Low aura, probably.

"No weapons out in the house," ordered Nubu. Ruby nodded. Seeing it, Neo nodded as well.

Finally, Jaune and the orange girl nodded. The quiet boy holstered his guns and opened the door.

That's right. Ruby was Neo's friend. The mythical friend that would do anything she could. The kind of friend that can't exist. That was the kind of friend Ruby was.

Neo handed the girl her umbrella and strode up the steps. _Not like they would've attacked her anyway._

The rest filed in after her and the quiet boy. He led them back to the room where they'd been eating. Everyone fastidiously ignored the hall's cracked drywall where Nubu had impacted and the gouge in the wall where Jaune's sword had been flung.

Ren gestured to the head of the table, where Nora had been sitting. Neo took the seat. Soon the four beacon students were arrayed on either side of the table, with Ruby at Neo's right, and Jaune to her left. Nubu arrived after the rest, with a steaming teapot and a tray of cups and saucers.

"So!" Announced Ruby, standing up. "This meeting is now called to order! Ruby Rose presiding. From Beacon Academy, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Jaune Arc." She indicated each in turn. Nubu placed a teacup in front of Neo. "From Sanctum Academy, we have Nubukha Nikos." Nubu stepped to the back of the room. "And..."

Ruby gestured towards Neo. So she took out her scroll, typed, and turned it around to show them. sɪᴛ ᴅᴏᴡɴ, ɴᴜʙᴜ.

"Yes, Ma'am." With a bow, she took the last open seat at the foot of the table.

Neo typed again. ɪ ᴀᴍ ɴᴇᴏᴘᴏʟɪᴛᴀɴ. ғᴏʀᴍᴇʀ ᴀʟʟʏ ᴏғ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ ᴛᴏʀᴄʜᴡɪᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ ғᴀʟʟ.

"Former?" asked Nora. Nubu wasn't sure what to make of it. Mistral residents may have heard Roman's name, but likely not Cinder's. She kept silent.

ʀᴜʙʏ ʀᴏsᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘs ᴍᴇ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ. ɪɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ɪ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʜᴇʀ sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ. Ruby read the message and made eye contact. What was behind those silver eyes Neo didn't know, but as for herself, she was thinking about the time she kicked Ruby off of an airship a thousand feet in the air.

 _I said I was sorry. Said it out loud. That should count for something._

"So you kill people for Torchwick, then you start killing people for Ruby because she's giving you voice lessons?" Jaune addressed Neo, but he was looking at Ruby. "I feel like tomorrow she'll slit our throats while we sleep because someone taught her how to play the piano. Ruby, she's bad news, and I don't know why you can't see it."

Ruby dropped Neo's umbrella on the table. "There it is. She's harmless, Jaune." Neo chose not to correct her.

"If you protect her," began Nora, "Where have you been until now?"

ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ғᴇʀᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ғᴀɴɢ. ᴅᴇᴄʀᴇᴀsᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇɴᴇᴍɪᴇs.

"With more killing?" asked Ren.

ɴᴏᴛ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ.

"And I'm helping her. I'm helping her not kill. We're trying to do better." Ruby reached out to Neo's right hand and squeezed her palm, choosing not to react at its shape.

"I can't help but be suspicious of someone that leaves dead mutilated bodies in our camp while most of us sleep." Was Jaune pouting?

ᴡʜᴇɴ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴀʟᴋs ᴘᴀsᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅɪᴇs ɪs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇɴᴇᴍʏ ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʏᴏᴜ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴛʀᴜsᴛɪɴɢ.

Jaune threw up his hands. "Yeah, well Neo, is it just that hard to actually tell people what you're up to, instead of expecting everybody to thank you for not killing them? You're really scraping the bottom of the human decency barrel here."

Neo typed ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀʀᴅ, raised her eyebrows, and pointed to her throat.

"Think about what she's been through, Jaune. Who she's been with. And what she can do."

"She must be very powerful if you'd risk this much to fight beside her," said Ren.

 _Fine._ It was always going to come down to this. ᴄʜᴏᴏsᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄʜᴀᴍᴘɪᴏɴ. Neo held her scroll out to the table. Five hands went up. Jaune, Ren, Nubu, and both of Nora's.

After a moment, Ren lowered his hand.

Jaune looked irrelevant in any form of combat. Nora was slow, but she had reach, and Neo didn't have enough aura to take a hit. Nubu was a complete unknown, but worst case scenario she'd either use that semblance to hurl Neo across the property or collapse before the fight began. Still, when she moved the weapons, she'd been thrown back herself... ʏᴏᴜ 3 ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅᴏ. 2 ʜᴏᴜʀs

"What, all of us? At once?" Nora waited for Neo to type her reply.

ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇɢᴀɪɴ sᴏᴍᴇ ᴀᴜʀᴀ ғɪʀsᴛ ɪɴ ᴄᴀsᴇ ɪ ɢᴇᴛ ʜɪᴛ.

Neo picked up her teacup and took a sip. It smelled like ginger, but tasted of oranges.


	21. Dance With Me

**Dance With Me**

"Psst. Wake up."

Neo sat up and blinked her eyes open. She tried to pinch the bridge of her nose, but accidentally used her right hand.

"You said five minutes till. It's five minutes till."

Neo's scroll was on the floor next to the couch. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴜʙʏ.

"Listen Neo. I've been thinking. What do you really gain by fighting them?"

Neo stood up. ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍᴜᴄʜ. ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ʟɪsᴛᴇɴ ɪғ ᴛʜᴇʏ sᴇᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴀᴍ sᴛʀᴏɴɢ. She began to stretch.

"Listen to you how?" Ruby crossed her arms.

Why lie? She'd just read it after the fight. ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ sᴀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ.

"Neopolitan Jones." Ruby's voice was stern. Neo wasn't sure where she got the _Jones_ from. "You are my friend and I love you." Ruby put a palm on each of Neo's cheeks and squeezed her face. "But if that's all you're planning, you might as well leave now."

Neo looked around the study. The two were alone and the door was, at least mostly, closed. "And I-"

Nubu appeared in the doorway. "Miss Neopolitan. Your presence is requested outside."

 _Almost._

Neo grabbed her umbrella and followed. Nubu led them out of the building, then through the front gate, and finally to a field next to the estate. Taking no chances with collateral damage. _Probably wise with Nora fighting._

"Hey, Ruby." Jaune was waiting with the others. "If any Grimm come, you and Ren will have to take care of them. Is that alright?"

Ruby spared a glance for Neo. "Of course."

"All right. Nubu, you're... good at fighting, right?"

Nubu bowed to him. "Yes, Master Arc. I came in fourth in last year's Mistral regional tournament." She pursed her lips. "Almost third."

"All right, don't worry about it. Let's form up and get ready."

The three stepped into the center of the field. Neo joined them, ten feet away. She couldn't concede range to Nora with no ranged weapon of her own.

"Miss Rose, give us a count, please."

"On the count of three." Her voice blared. "One. Two! Three!"

Neo brought up her umbrella and dashed forward, only to find herself tumbling back. _Of course._ She kept a grip of her umbrella as Nubu pushed on it, flying across the snow for another fifteen feet. She could see Nubu, crouching, braced on the ground. Neo's scroll popped out of her pocket and flew behind her. "Nora! High!" Yelled Jaune. She was already firing grenades into the air.

Neo opened her umbrella. The sudden resistance made it stop in midair. Nubu tumbled backwards, while Neo's momentum pivoted her past it in midair. She landed in a crouch, her umbrella above her, and stayed still while the grenades landed.

That cleared most of the snow. There was a gap between shells, so Neo closed her umbrella and ran forward again.

Nubu was up. She did something with her wristband and threw her spear, which started firing dust out the back end like a rocket. She ran behind it before being lifted into the air. She'd connected her spear to her wrist. _And a semblance to keep it aimed and steady._

Jaune had his sword out, right behind her. "Nora, flank!" The girl shot above Neo's head, spinning.

Nubu got to her first. Neo sidestepped her spear and kicked her as she flew past, but Nubu caught Neo's leg in her free right hand and pulled her off balance. Neo opened her umbrella again and held on as tight as she could. The deceleration tore Neo's foot from her grip and Nubu skidded to a stop. Neo landed on her feet.

Jaune arrived swinging. Neo kicked his sword hand, followed by his shield. He stumbled back.

Nubu and Nora were both behind her. Neo turned and stepped away, towards Jaune, to avoid a spear strike. Nora swung her hammer, but she thankfully did so on Neo's left side. Neo blocked with her umbrella.

Nubu stepped around her, away from Nora. Jaune was on his feet. They formed a triangle around Neo, with Nubu to her right and Jaune behind her.

"Nora, flush!" shouted Jaune. Nora swung her hammer again. Nubu retracted her spear's point and grabbed it around its middle like a staff. Neo blocked Nora with her umbrella and blocked one staff strike with her right hand, leaving her back open.

Jaune stabbed her back with his sword, sending Neo flying, losing grip of her umbrella. She lost more aura tumbling before she threw herself from the ground with her left hand, landing on her feet facing the group. Her eyes were pink, of course.

 _Kicks worked with Jaune earlier. Can't fight three people with only two limbs._

Neo ran back towards them.

Again, Nubu was first. She stabbed with her staff, regrowing the spear tip. Neo leaned to dodge the strike and grabbed the spear in her hand. She dipped into a wide stance and brought the spear down on her leg, flipping Nubu over her head.

"Nora! Low!" Nora, now closing with Neo, struck the ground with her hammer. The shockwave popped Neo off of the ground, and in that moment she saw Jaune jumping over Nora's head for her. Neo would have to take the hit, fly into Nubu, and incapacitate her before the others closed again. She didn't have aura for another exchange, and she needed breathing room to retrieve her umbrella.

Jaune shrunk up behind his shield and impacted like a cannonball. Neo took the force on her right palm. She shot back, turning around and readying her fist. Nubu rising from the ground and turning to face her.

"Pyrrha, now!"

Nubu froze, her expression blank. Neo's punch landed. The girl's body spun a full circle before landing.

All four combatants were still.

"I'm done fighting," announced Nora. Neo checked Nubu's aura and found it intact. Neo grabbed her arm and tried to drag her to her feet. She wasn't tall enough to get her off of her knees, but Nubu finished standing up on her own, picked up her weapon, and walked back to her house.

Neo went looking for her scroll. The others followed Nubu inside.


	22. Please Please Please

**Please Please Please**

Time on the road had its disadvantages. Well, it was mostly disadvantages. Even without the constant grimm attacks and tracking your quarry, there was no time to read.

Neo was almost done L in _Psychological Conditions and Disorders, Sixth Edition._ She'd read the fifth edition years ago. Not much had stuck with her. Mutism, depression, anxiety, psychopathy, sociopathy... the highlights.

Nubu bowed in the doorway. "The Nikos have been served. We may eat." Ren shut his book and put it back onto one of the shelves. Neo locked her scroll and followed the girl down the hall. She brought them to the same dining room where they'd met previously.

Jaune and Nora were already at the table, whispering about something. Ruby was entering the room through the back door, hands full with trays upon trays of food and dinnerware. "Is... this... everything... Nubu?"

"Yes, Miss Rose." Nubu slipped past Ruby. "Except for a few things. Excuse me a moment."

Ruby was arranging her haul onto the table. Neo helped unstack a few plates, typed on her scroll, and then spun it around for the table. ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ sᴀɪᴅ

"Sorry to disappoint you. Well, no I'm not," Nora hedged. "But we're still going and that's final."

ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ʟᴏsᴇ. Nubu arrived with a tray of drinks and glasses.

"Eh, I'm no stranger to not winning," answered Jaune. "...Or to losing."

"We've got some tricks up our sleeve," added Ruby through a mouth full of chicken.

ᴇᴀᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴜs ɴᴜʙᴜ.

"Yes, Ma'am." Nubu bowed and sat down. Ruby had set a sixth plate, although Nubu hadn't brought herself a glass.

ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇᴀᴛ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴀʀᴇʟʏ ғɪɢʜᴛ ʜᴇʀ. Neo could type and chew at the same time.

"Your style focuses on damage prevention and careful, decisive strikes," said Ren. "You are unsuited to battling a foe with high aura and range."

What would it take for them to see? Clearly Neo herself wasn't a good example. _Keep trying._ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴘʏʀʀʜᴀ ʙᴇᴀᴛ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ?

Nobody spoke after Neo showed them her scroll. Nora even stopped eating.

"You have a lot to learn about dealing with people," Jaune said, his voice cold.

Neo hadn't heard any details about Pyrrha's death. She'd just assumed the tournament champion had been felled by the biggest threat in the area. Or maybe that dragon had eaten her. ᴡʜᴀᴛ?

"Don't go dredging that up to scare us. We don't scare so easy." Jaune's face disagreed with his words.

Ruby's didn't. "Yeah. We have each other. That's stronger than anything Cinder can throw at us."

Except maybe who Cinder had. Neo had never fought Mercury and Emerald one on one. Even if she had, even if she'd won, it wouldn't hold a candle to how she saw they could function together. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ's ᴛᴇᴀᴍ

"Well, that one's easy," said Nora. "We're better, of course."

Flippant and fake. Everything Neo said, everything she tried, and they rebuffed her. They ignored her. They just kept going, walking past safety to their death.

Neo was crying into her stew. _Keep trying. They have to crack._ She pulled her scroll back to her. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ

Ruby placed a hand on hers. "Neo, it will be all right."

Neo cleared what she was writing. Typing was getting difficult. ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴅɪᴇ

"THEN SAVE ME!" Ruby ordered. Neo flinched back into her chair. Emotions washed over Ruby's face in a sequence too fast to track.

"Ssh. It's all right." Ruby rose, lifted Neo from her seat, and wrapped her in her arms. "It's all right, Neo. Don't worry. We'll be alright."

Neo's mouth opened in a silent wail. It wasn't all right, and Neo couldn't remember when it had been. Was living alone in an apartment the good life? Buying every adjacent unit just to make sure nobody could hear? Running down the days with games and essays on grimm study, because the alternative was being near people, feeling the pressure behind her eyes build and build, asking over and over again why she went so long without fighting back?

And now Ruby Rose was leaving, to fight the battle Roman knew couldn't be won. Did they admire the Nikos girl so much they wanted to die like her?

"Neo," Ruby whispered into her hair. "I can't explain everything, but I can tell you that I can beat Cinder. I just need to get to her alive."

Neo sobbed into Ruby's shirt. It had been an embrace like this that had started it all. Landed her in this mess of doubt and commitment. Taken her away from Torchwick. Introduced her to Ruby Rose, the friend that couldn't exist.

 _If she's already impossible, what's wrong with one more impossibility?_

Neo pulled away. Ruby had made her point. She didn't have to hug any more.

Fine. Fine. Neo picked up her napkin and wiped most of the tears and mucus from her face. Then she grabbed her scroll and wrote, ɴᴜʙᴜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴜs.

"Yes, Ma'am." Nubu twitched like she wanted to bow before she realized she was sitting down.

 _Well, that was easier than I expected._

RRNNNJ. They made a very lopsided orange, all told. She'd been on Cinder's tournament team, even nominally led it. She'd felt affection towards Torchwick, while aware of his ultimate loyalties. But never had she lived, worked, and fought beside others. People that she might even be able to trust as her friends.

Jaune was right. she _did_ have a lot to learn about people.

Neo closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The table was silent. All eyes were on her. She wasn't crying anymore, at least not too much.

Neo typed into her scroll, ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴘʏʀʀʜᴀ ʟɪᴋᴇ?

Nubu smiled. "Her third year at sanctum was my first. We met in the top 8 elimination. She offered to drop out for me. Staring down hundreds of thousands of Lien in endorsements, she just turns to me and says, you can win this and it will be a Nikos tradition."

Ren nodded. "While Jaune still serves as our team's capable leader, Pyrrha was our secret weapon to overcome any obstacle."

"After classes, after homework, Pyrrha would train me in combat. For an hour or longer, every night, I mean I was completely clueless. She knew she didn't need me, she barely needed anyone." Jaune's voice cracked. "But her kindness, and her belief in me. That's what kept me going."

"But she did need you, Jaune. She was so lonely when she arrived, and then she found you. Found Juniper. She made a home, accepting you as you were, and being accepted right back. And that bond you all shared..." Ruby had tears in her eyes. "It's why you're still together today."

"What was Pyrrha like?" Repeated Nora. "She was the teammate, the friend, the person in your life you always wanted but didn't ask for, because it would be too greedy. Pyrrha was great."

Neo smiled with them.

Greatness. It must have been nice.


	23. Universal Traveler

**Universal Traveler**

One, two, three.

Three knocks, and rest.

One, two, three.

Three knocks, and rest.

One, "Come in!"

Nubukha opened the door and curtsied with her free hand. Mother was still in bed. Father was in his chair at the table, reading.

Mother was first. Nubu moved to the bed and loaded her dishes onto her tray. She didn't see any new stains on the sheets, which was good. _She'll be up before the week's out. I've never seen her take longer._

 _I've never seen her lose her daughter._

She placed the tray on the table and loaded father's dishes. Then she walked back to the center of the room. Unusual behavior. Mother looked up at her.

"I've been asked to go with Jaune and his friends when they leave. I would like to."

Father turned from his book. "Go where?"

"They are headed into Mistral City to find a terrorist organization that destroyed the communications tower in Vale."

Father scoffed. "Sounds like a job for huntsmen, not students. No."

Nubu squirmed under their joint gaze. "Father, they are capable."

"Haven has administrators for high-threat crime," he lectured. "Are they capable enough to speak?"

 _Well, actually..._ "I will bring that to their attention. However, they are in a unique position, both to identify and to"

"Let her go," interrupted Mother.

"Ianthe." Father turned to her, tired. "If Nub leaves..."

"We'll hire a maid." Mother waved her hand.

"I forbid it." He put his foot down. Father always did have an appreciation for the classics.

"They killed Pyrrha," Nubu whispered.

Her parents looked at each other. Mother was impatient. Father looked angrier.

"What. Do you think. That changes?" the man asked.

"Jaune's cause is pure. They honor Pyrrha's ideals, and her memory."

He rose from his chair. "And you don't honor her by completing your education?" He took two steps forward and leaned in. Nubu craned her neck. "You still have six years before you go off hunting the white fang, and using Pyrrha's name as a shortcut _dishonors_ her memory."

"I want to help," she told Father's chin.

"And what do you think you can do?" he asked. His breath stank of chicken curry and alcohol. Perhaps he figured out Nub diluted all his wine and started drinking more. Perhaps he would have drunk more anyway, today.

"Bruno," said Mother. "What will she be able to do in six years?"

Father pushed Nubu. Not hard. She stumbled into the wall, where she steadied herself.

He was already going back to his book. Nubu picked the dish tray up from the table and walked to the door. "I will leave meals for the week in the freezer." Then she turned around, curtsied, backed out of the room and closed the door.

So much to do. Best to cook for ten days, to be safe; it would be a week before Mother remembered to call out. Organize the fridge while she was there. Organize Father's new books. Pack. Clean, especially the guest rooms, and prepare clean sheets. Water the plants. Dose out Mother's medication. Shovel the pathways, in case guests came before it snowed again. Plan. The Nikos name could go far if she knew who in Mistral to contact.

She would have to tell Miss Rose that she couldn't leave until the morning. She would need to find the group a fast route to the city. That would have to come first. Miss Neopolitan would want to leave right away.

Nubu ran some numbers. If the weather didn't change, she could leave in about fourteen hours. Budget two more hours for things she forgot.

But the others could leave now. Nubu would catch up. She was practiced at it.

 **Words, Volume 2 - End**


	24. Straight Talk (Words: Limitation)

**Words, Volume 3: Limitation**

 **Straight Talk**

Blake strode through the parking lot, feeling naked. But she was in public, or close enough, and these days Mistral civilians knew what white fang masks looked like.

After an eternity she reached the door. She pounded on it once, twice, then spoke. "It's Belle." The people behind the door would know who she was. They would have seen her enter the parking lot and compared her to the headshots they had on file. Not that her identity was a mystery. They knew she was coming.

Blake had told them.

The door opened, and an arm pulled her inside. The arm belonged to one of four uniformed, masked white fang members staring her down. Blake made sure to keep her hands above her head as they spent more time than necessary patting her down, until finally she was shoved down the entrance hallway and through a set of double doors. There, her guards handed her to two more white fang members. Each took one of her arms and walked her through a maze of rooms and hallways. If this part of the journey was meant to confuse Blake, it succeeded, but not in the way they may have been going for. The fact that they didn't want her to know the layout of the building seemed to suggest that they were planning to let her go alive. _Somehow, this could still work._

Blake swished her tongue around her mouth, feeling the capsules fitted onto her teeth.

Just in case.

Finally, those guards knocked on another set of double doors, heavy, painted white. They opened and Blake was handed off yet again to two _more_ guards. Each took an arm and they brought her through a doorway into a smaller room, barely larger than a closet, with a man behind a desk at the end.

He didn't look up from his papers. The room was kept too dark for even many faunus to read, and Blake wondered if he was faking it. "Sit her down."

The guards walked Blake over to the chair in front of his desk. Uncushioned metal. She sat when they pushed her down.

"Hello, Tabby Belle. Have you run out of followers?" The man's voice was cordial, almost welcoming.

Blake resisted the urge to use one of his equally unflattering nicknames. "Alt. Your business is going smoothly."

He nodded. "More customers every day. The humans don't know what they're funding." He was overweight and dressed in blacks and reds, undoubtedly an intentional allusion. Like Blake, his face was uncovered. "But then, you already knew that."

Blake nodded. "And you know why I'm here."

Alt smiled. "You're here because you want to spend my money."

Blake shook her head, earning a cuff behind her ears from one of the guards. She tried to ignore it. "Keep it, Alt, I know you want to. I just need your manpower."

"How generous. I get to keep my own money? Leave us." He waved his hand towards the door.

Each guard placed a hand on one of Blake's shoulders. Blake heard rustling and turned to her head to see. Each guard had a pair of handcuffs. In unison, they slapped one cuff around each arm of her chair, which Blake was now realizing was secured to the floor.

She turned back to Alt, using the motion to move her hands into her lap. Then she bit into her second false tooth. Air dust.

Just enough. Blake sighed very visibly and settled into the chair. She placed her left arm onto the chair's arm, then created a shadow arm over the chair's right armrest, with the dust to make it tactile. Two cuffs clicked into place, and the guards turned to leave.

Blake tested the freedom of her left arm. She couldn't even get it to the side of the chair's arm. Still, it was her only play. She let the shadow arm lapse - out of dust anyway - and rattled the cuff around her left wrist to cover the sound of the right cuff hitting the chair's arm. Then she moved her right arm under the armrest and pulled the empty cuff under with her thumb. Hopefully it would just look like the guard had cuffed her in an even less comfortable pose.

"So, I suppose you have me right where you want me."

"So, I suppose you're going to tell me why I shouldn't do what I'm going to do."

"Alt, if we make peace here, we can combine our forces, our territories. You've had your eyes on western industrial for _years_ under Adam."

"There are two flaws in your proposal, kitty cat." Alt rose from his seat and walked around his desk, so Blake could see his bird talons. "The first is that I know _partnership_ with you would leave you with my men. Giving me no territory at all."

He walked behind her chair, so that even craning her neck, Blake couldn't get a good look at him. "The second is that if you aren't there to lead your people, I get the territory for free."

"You're wrong." But Blake's words had a note of desperation now. "They followed Mauricius before me and they'll follow him after."

"Silly kitten. As if your murder of Mauricius hadn't reached my ears."

"I didn't kill him, I _recruited_ him." It was easier to say because it was the truth. Although it was harder to say because, like Alt thought, Mauricius _was_ dead, just not by her hand. "And honestly, whatever you decide do, what's with the names?" She'd been called worse, even by other faunus, but what did they give him now?

"Say what you will. I think you were losing support with your cell and came to me for help." Blake frowned. With the information Alt would have, his reasoning made sense. He rounded to her left side. "A last-ditch effort to save your status, along with those cute little ears of yours. And in the end, you're not even surprised it failed. I know you love books, so tell me. Does that sound like a likely story to you, _Blake Belladonna?"_

Blake stayed silent. Few members of the white fang knew her name. Had Alt been in Adam's confidence? He hadn't been high up when she'd left...

Alt walked back behind her. "That was a nice trick with the cuff, by the way." And he placed his arm around her neck and squeezed.

Blake's body protested immediately, but she was able to bite into her third false tooth. She rocked her head forward, leaving a fire clone behind it, scorching his chest. Then she brought her arm up and punched him in the head, over and over. She had no angle. She had no strength. Her aura weakened, followed by her vision. She bit her first tooth. Gravity dust.

She floated out of the chair, pushing off for the force to take Alt with her. She pivoted around her left arm, still cuffed in place, and slammed headfirst into the ground. Or, her head would have hit the ground, had it not hit Alt's chest first. She lay on her back, on top of him, arm still attached to the chair.

"Nice... trick." He hadn't let go. "But I have something you don't." He gripped the carpet with his feet and pivoted upwards somehow. Blake's aura and wrist snapped together.

The strength left her body. Her left arm was solid fire that refused to burn off. He was pulling her as he strangled, keeping her arm taut. Standing up using only his feet, with Blake on top of him... She hadn't seen that coming.

But she had something he didn't. And through the heartbeats pounding in her ears, she could _hear_ it coming. Blake went limp.

The door burst open, revealing a man wearing a white fang mask and a black and purple uniform. He fired his rifle three times at Alt's head. Blake fell with his corpse, its arm still around her neck, and the pain in her wrist reached new heights. She gasped, but her throat could barely let through any air.

Behind the first man came another, holding one of her handcuffers at gunpoint. She unlocked Blake's arm and was led from the room. The first man, her savior, dragged her off of Alt's corpse.

Blake's eyes were watering. She put her hand on her chest but anything she did seemed to make it hurt more. Finally, she left it across her stomach and took shallow breaths, so as not to move it too much.

"Slop-" Blake tried to admonish Alt's corpse but the vibrations from her speech hurt too much to say more.

"No deaths among ours," the man told her. "All eyes looking inwards."

"Medic," Blake whispered. The louder she spoke the more it hurt.

"Sorry, Belle. Triage first. You're going to live. They'll be here soon."

Blake rocked her head forward and slammed it back against the floor. That seemed to help for a moment. She groaned.

Finally she decided she could bear another word. "Them?"

"Looks like three dead, three seriously injured, final nineteen mostly intact." He smiled under his mask. "A good haul. And I am sorry about this, but you'd hate me tomorrow if I gave you exceptions."

Blake couldn't remember this one's name. She'd remembered Mauricius, and her second-in-command after him, and then her third second once he'd died. Her head had run out of room for the living. As far as Blake could remember, he was the team leader with feathers.

 _I'm sorry. I'll learn your name once I..._ Blake exhaled through clenched teeth. She needed sedation, a cast, anything.

In silence, Feathers took out a mask and strapped it to Blake's head. Once the medics arrived, she had to look like their leader. All movement reverberated into her wrist.

Alt's money wasn't worth this pain.

She hoped his people were.


	25. Always Say Goodnight

**Always Say Goodnight**

ʀʀ: sᴏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ɪᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ sᴘᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ?

Neo turned her head. Over Nora's snoring form she could see Ruby, face lit by the glow from her scroll, waiting for an answer.

ɪ ɢᴏᴛ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛ. ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ. Neo hit send, and Ruby looked away from Neo to her screen.

ʀʀ: ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ. ɪ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ.

Neo smiled. ɪ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍʏ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ ᴛᴏᴏ. ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ?

Ruby's eyes widened and her gaze flickered between the screen and Neo's face. Finally she bit her lip and wrote, ʀʀ: ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ɪ'ᴍ sᴜᴘᴘᴏsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ.

Anyone? Or Neo? Who made these rules? Was Neo not trusted?

 _I wouldn't trust me. Still don't._

Ruby bit her lip and looked down. Neo typed, ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴇᴀʀᴅ ᴀɴʏ ɴᴇᴡs ᴏɴ ᴛᴏʀᴄʜᴡɪᴄᴋ

ʀʀ: sɪʟᴠᴇʀ ᴇʏᴇs.

 _What about them?_ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴇᴀɴ?

ʀʀ: ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ɢᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ, ᴍʏ ᴇʏᴇs sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ɢʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴇʀᴜᴘᴛᴇᴅ sᴏᴍᴇʜᴏᴡ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴡᴀᴠᴇ

ʀʀ: ᴏғ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ɢᴏᴛ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ

ʀʀ: ᴀɴᴅ ɪ sᴀᴡ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ

Ruby was crying. ʀʀ: ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʏʀʀʜᴀ ʟᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴍᴇ

Neo rose from her side of the bed and walked around. Ruby didn't seem to notice. ʀʀ: ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ғᴇʟᴛ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ

Neo leaned down and hugged Ruby, as best as she could through the covers. She couldn't type while hugging, so she shook her head.

"Neo..." Ruby whispered. "I'm sorry. You deserve to know."

Neo shook her head. She wanted to hold the hug, but instead she let go and typed, ɪ ᴛʀᴜsᴛ ʏᴏᴜ.

"Thank you."

The questions about Neo's eye color made sense now. How long had Ruby known? Had she thought Polly to have special powers, capable to stopping Cinder with a single freezing glance? _Sorry. I hope it doesn't ruin your plans, but I watched plenty of friends die while my head burned, and nothing ever happened._

What Neo needed now was to distract Ruby. Luckily, she had a topic prepared. ɪ'ᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ɪ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴍʏ ᴜᴍʙʀᴇʟʟᴀ

"You never named it? How long have you used it?"

6 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ. As planned, Ruby forgot her sorrow. Neo watched the gears turn in her head.

"How about Harlequin? Because of all the colors. And it matches you."

Neo frowned. She wasn't sure how she felt about an umbrella named Harlequin. Or about being compared to it.

"Uh, alright then. How about Amitola. Wait. Is it a girl umbrella?"

Neo shrugged her shoulders.

"Amitola. Means rainbow, but it's a boy name. How about Iris?"

Neo thought for a moment, then nodded. It meant rainbow too, but it also meant Neo's eyes. Which was another way of saying, any color she wanted.

ɪ ᴄʜʀɪsᴛᴇɴ ʜᴇʀ ɪʀɪs.

Ruby smiled. It had worked. "Are you from Mistral?"

Neo nodded.

"Where?"

ɴᴏʀᴛʜ ʀᴇsɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴀʟ.

"Is there anything you miss there?"

There were people that she'd missed, but she'd just kept stabbing until she made contact. Neo shook her head.

"I would... If you'd like to tell me more, I'd be glad to hear about it. About your life. You weren't always this way."

Neo narrowed her eyes. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀʏ?

"Well, quiet. You used to be able to speak."

ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴏʀᴇ.

"Well, ok then. It's just, I want to help you, I do. And you've said words to me and that's great. But when I'm fixing Crescent Rose, I need to know how she broke."

ɪғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀ ᴡᴀs sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ғɪɢᴜʀᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ғɪᴠᴇ ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇ sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ ᴏғ ᴍʏ ʟɪғᴇ ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴀʟʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ.

"No, Neo, that's not what I meant."

ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛs ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ.

"Neo, I said the wrong thing. I'm sorry!"

Neo circled the bed and slipped under the covers. She'd read about sulking, but never before had a chance. Ruby rose from her spot, lay back down, and started typing a message on her scroll.

"Uh, ladies?" said Nora from the middle of the bed. "I'm awake. You're not exactly silent."

When had Nora stopped snoring?

Neo held out her scroll. sᴏʀʀʏ.

Nora smiled. "Hey, we have a hotel room. I can stand to wake up a few times for this bed." Neo had no idea Pyrrha was in hotel ads, and as far as she could tell, neither did Ruby or Pyrrha's team. But Nubu had known just who to call to get them set up in the city. Neo hadn't ever spent time in this district of the kingdom, beyond pulling jobs here.

"I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Ruby sat up again. "Both because you're a person and a friend and you don't need to be fixed but also because it woke up Nora, hello Nora."

"Oh, Ruby, don't worry it. Well, the me part of it. You can worry about the Neo part if you like."

ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴀ ғᴜɴᴄᴛɪᴏɴɪɴɢ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ. ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ғᴏʀɢᴏᴛ. Neo held her scroll out where both could read it. It seemed impolite to exclude Nora at this point.

"I'm happy to know you," Ruby declared. "You've made my life better. I hope the same is true for you."

ɪᴛ ɪs. Neo placed her scroll on her nightstand and lay down, staring up at the hotel ceiling. Knowing Ruby for the past few months had helped.

Like Torchwick, before her.


	26. Nothing to Say

**Nothing to Say**

Ren and Nora made a good team. Not just in how they functioned, although that was likely true too. _Aesthetically_. Tall and short, man and woman. They fit together like puzzle pieces. And they looked like a couple. The way they regarded each other, nonverbal stuff. Neo always noticed the nonverbal stuff.

Neo didn't see Ruby pair like that with anybody. Jaune got along with Ren, but Jaune could hardly be trusted in such a delicate operation. Neo had her doubts about Nora as well, but her persona wouldn't blow the charade, not on its own. Nora would say something that didn't make sense. Jaune would say the one thing Neo instructed him not to.

Ren led Nora to the door and Ren knocked. The two waited about twenty seconds in silence before Nora knocked again.

Neo typed, ᴡʜɪsᴘᴇʀ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴡᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴛᴏᴏ ʟᴏɴɢ and hit send. Ren took out his scroll like he was checking the time and leaned close to Nora. From Neo's vantage, the entire apartment building seemed dead.

No, not quite. There was movement in an upper window, looking down on the pair. Somebody ducking out. Why weren't they open for business? Things had changed since Neo had been to Mistral, but they hadn't changed so much that people would refuse money. Was the watcher headed downstairs to answer the door? To let somebody know? Was there only one person in the entire complex?

The building's roof door opened, and a woman in a white fang mask stepped out. _Location abandoned. Left a scout._ Neo sent a message on her scroll: ᴍᴏᴠᴇ ɪɴ. sᴛᴀʏ ᴄᴀʀᴇғᴜʟ. And as the woman jumped to the next roof, Neo opened her window and jumped out.

The street was too wide for Neo to easily cross it to the white fang building. She grabbed a drainpipe and swung up and onto the roof of her building, some shop with unlocked third-floor apartments. From there she could take a running start to the roof's edge and pop Iris to drift to the other side. A little slow and more than a little visible, but her quarry was moving away from her already, so not like being seen would change things.

Neo jumped and floated. The woman saw. Neo reached the other side of the street, but she was three roofs behind. She closed Iris and took off.

The woman was nearly as small as Neo and nearly as fast. She went one more roof and jumped off the side, into an alley. Neo sprinted over, hooked Iris under her shoulder, and jumped down after her. The woman was climbing down a fire escape. Neo grabbed her shirt as she fell past, ripping her from the ladder, then popped Iris open. A patch tore out of the woman's shirt, and she dropped out of Neo's hand into a dumpster. _Oops._

Neo landed in the alley as the woman surfaced in the garbage, coughing and gasping. It was a large dumpster, so Neo waited for the woman to climb out and into her reach, then grabbed her by the collar and threw her to the alley asphalt. Her gun skidded away.

She held her scroll over the woman's head. ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴅᴀᴍ ᴛᴀᴜʀᴜs.

"I have nothing to say to you," the woman said, lisping her words. She tried to get off of her back. Neo slapped Iris across her shoulders to keep her down.

 _You could at least tell me he's dead. Then we can start the real conversation._ Members of the white fang shouldn't know who she was specifically. ʙʀɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴅᴀᴍ.

The woman spit on Neo's leg. Neo hit her with Iris again.

The woman stayed still this time. So Neo slid out Iris's blade and brought it to her eye.

"Adam is dead." Neo noticed a snake tongue flicker out between her lips for a moment after she stopped speaking.

 _Finally!_ Neo couldn't hold Iris still and type at the same time, so she just typed. ᴡʜᴏ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ғᴏʀ. Then she brought the blade back to her eye.

"You coward," said the woman.

Neo retracted the blade, hung Iris on her belt, grabbed the woman's arm, and lifted her to her feet. She stood facing Neo, unsure. Keeping one eye on her, Neo typed out, ᴛʜᴇɴ sʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄᴏᴜʀᴀɢ

Before she could finish typing, the snake woman turned to run. Ironic. Neo kicked her in the back, knocking her onto the street, then hauled her back up by her collar and knocked her back down with a blow to the head. Her aura cracked. Neo rolled her over onto her back to make eye contact, and shook her head.

"Who do you work for?" asked the snake woman.

ᴀɴ ᴀʟʟʏ ᴏғ ᴀᴅᴀᴍ's

"Not good allies if you don't know he's been dead for weeks now."

Neo drew Iris, popped out her blade, and sliced the woman's cheek. Traffic was light in this district, but she didn't want to cause _too_ much sound. The woman placed a hand on her cheek and took it off to stare at the blood.

"I don't want to betray Belle," said the woman, betraying Belle. She was breathing in sharp, shallow breaths.

 _It can't be._ Belladonna? Had Blake actually taken over?

Neo took out her scroll again. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ғɪɴᴅ?

ʟʀ: ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ sɪɢɴs ᴏғ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ.

ʀʀ: ᴡ.ғ. ʙᴏᴅɪᴇs.

So Blake was _in the process_ of taking over. Neo had only sent her on the mission to keep her out of Ruby's sightline. Just her luck that Neo would end up needing her to track down Cinder.

Blake wouldn't help her if she heard Neo was torturing her scouts. And Ruby would hate to hear about Neo slicing people's faces open. Hate Neo herself, even. But all of those problems had a simple solution.

 _Make it work anyway._ ʙᴇʟʟᴇ ɪs ᴡɪɴɴɪɴɢ?

"More than any of the others realize."

Neo frowned. How on earth can Ruby get anything done at this rate? ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴇᴇ ʜᴇʀ. ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪs ᴄʜᴀɴɢɪɴɢ.

The woman had caught her breath. "And why would I help you?"

Couldn't she see? ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ sɪᴅᴇ.

"Sure doesn't look like it from down here."

Next Neo would tell the woman that she thought she was white fang. The woman would tell Neo that she _was_ white fang. Neo would tell her that Blake's faction was on her side. She wouldn't be believed. Neo would tell her that she's an old acquaintance and get nowhere. Neo would tell her that she would have to take her to Blake anyway and be denied. Neo would decide that she didn't have time for this. Neo would be right.

 _Ruby would want me to make it work._ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅɪsᴀʀᴍ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇʀ.

"So now I have to trust someone else too?"

Neo growled in frustration. ғɪɴᴇ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴄᴀʟʟ ʜᴇʀ. She handed her scroll over and stepped back.

The white fang woman got up from the street, looked at Neo's scroll, then threw it towards the front of the alley. It hit a wall and bounced out of the alley into the street, where Neo lost sight of it. She turned back to Neo and smiled.

Neo stabbed her through the eye. She fell, and Iris's blade scraped the street. Then Neo withdrew her blade, wiped it down on the woman's purple clothing, and dumped the body in the dumpster.

She left the alley to look for her scroll.

Sometimes things just didn't work.


	27. Shut Your Eyes

**Shut Your Eyes**

It took Neo ten seconds to write on the unfamiliar keypad. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴡᴀɪᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ.

"You don't want come?" asked Nora.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɢᴏᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ɪ ᴅᴏ? Key repeat time was too long, it couldn't even keep up with Neo's slowed pace. Maybe she could find the setting.

"Well, you know what we're up against," Ruby encouraged. "But if you don't think you'd be the best person to talk about it, you can wait here for us."

Neo raised an eyebrow.

Ruby leaned in close, although Neo didn't see any bystanders listening. "Do you think he'll recognize you?"

Neo shook her head. She shouldn't be known in Mistral. Just useless at talking was all.

The wall to the right of the door had a bench. Neo sat on one end and nodded to the group. Jaune led them over to the desk of the assistant, who asked a question, checked a list, and waved them to the office door.

Neo opened her scroll. She'd just started a study on alternative fuels on her old scroll, but had no pay books on this one. So she tapped _Grimm Encyclopedia 3: Airborne_ and skimmed a few pages. The screen wasn't even the right color. Was it _already_ low on battery?

A man sat down next to her. He was tall, dark, tattooed, and wore a white coat. Neo went back to her book. It wasn't very interesting.

Neo _did_ want to join Ruby. She wanted to protect her. Who knows what kind of questions the Haven man would be asking.

What Neo didn't want were the questions directed at her. Why she didn't speak. How she knew what she knew. Who she was. Where she learned to fight.

Neo didn't much enjoy authority figures. _Psychological Conditions and Disorders, Sixth Edition_ would probably have something pithy to say about it.

Or about her not telling Ruby about her uncle.

Or about her telling Jaune that she "lost sight of" the white fang scout that broke her scroll in an alley.

But Neo was only doing the same thing: Protecting Ruby. If Ruby knew about Qrow, he might tell her about Neo tailing them, and that might make Ruby leave her. And Neo couldn't protect Ruby if Ruby left her. Well, not easily. The point might be moot, as Neo hadn't seen the man since.

...Or about not telling Ruby about Neo's family. That wouldn't make Ruby leave her. That was a different kind of protection.

The dark man's blond friend stopped sweet talking the administrator's assistant and walked over. "He says he's busy. Wait or come back, do you think?"

The sitting man shrugged.

"Alright, good talk. But it looks like his last appointment is aaaaaand somehow it's Ruby." Blond man had turned to see Ruby and her team leaving the office. They walked over to Neo and the two men.

The assistant saw them leave too. "Master Wukong, you may enter."

"Yeah, in a minute." The blond man, Wukong, gestured to the group but turned back to his friend. "Sage, I haven't introduced you. This is Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and, eh..." He trailed off.

Ruby and the others arrived. "Lie Ren." Ren offered his hand.

Sun shook it without turning around. "Pleasure. Can we talk outside?" He started down a hall, without even a glance at Neo. "So. You're in Mistral."

"We just arrived." Jaune was right behind him. "We didn't expect to see any familiar faces." The others followed.

Neo got up and walked behind the rest, writing. Finally she hurried over to Ruby and presented her scroll. ᴅᴏ ᴡᴇ ᴛʀᴜsᴛ ᴛʜᴇᴍ

"Sun. Sage. This is Neopolitan. She's helping us in Mistral."

"Hey, Neopolitan." Sun reached a hand over and ruffled her hair. "You local? 'Cause I'm actually not."

Neo asked Ruby, ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ ᴠʏᴛᴀʟ

"Sun helped us out when we had problems with Torchwick." Ruby paused. "And when we had a misunderstanding with Blake."

"So that's a no on the hey back?" asked Sun.

"Neo doesn't like people," explained Nora. Neo noticed Sun moving his left hand around by his side. He was pointing to Nora.

"Neo doesn't speak," added Ren.

Neo did like _some_ people. Well, at least one person.

Maybe Nora was right.

"So, what were you doing in Professor Rama's office? Or at Haven? Or in Mistral at all, really?" Sun opened a door and held it while the group funneled into the classroom beyond. They congregated in a circle, Neo between Ruby and Sage. The room was lit by sunlight through the blinds.

"We're here hunting Cinder Fall and her people," said Jaune. "They're responsible for what happened during the festival. We think they made their way back here." Sun was now pointing to Jaune.

"We just got back ourselves, cause we were in Vale helping keep things tight. Neptune is with Scarlet's family doing some stuff, so me and Sage were reporting back. Sounds like there's a lotta details the kingdom doesn't know."

Sage nodded. He seemed tolerable. Neo started typing.

"Say, have you heard from Blake since the fall?" asked Ruby.

Neo looked at her scroll. ᴀsᴋ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʙʟ. She cleared it and started again, trying to keep one eye on Sage's face.

"Do we trust everybody in this room?" asked Sun, not using Neo's name for some reason. Maybe he forgot it.

"Yes," answered Ruby, giving Neo's shoulder a squeeze. _There_ it was. Sage's eyes flicked down to Sun's hand before he focused his eyes on Ruby. Deaf. No. Partially deaf, maybe.

"Blake is actually in Mistral. Got here before me. And she's involved in some pretty heavy stuff."

Neo showed him her scroll. ᴡᴇ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴋ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇʀ. Normally she would write "contact" but just typing on this thing was beginning to pink her eyes. And her eyes were already pink.

"Why do we need Blake?" asked Nora.

"I didn't know you knew Blake," added Ruby.

Neo typed. Several people watched her. ᴀᴅᴀᴍ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀ

"Who's Adam?" asked Sun.

"Blake's... old friend," provided Jaune. "Why do we need her?"

Like she'd told them before. ᴛᴏ ʀᴇғᴏʀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ғᴀɴɢ

Neo looked up. Ruby's eyes widened, and they weren't the only ones. What was Neo missing?

"And she's here? You mean she's been fighting them all this time? Did she..." Ruby swallowed. "Was she responsible for that abandoned building?"

"What building?" asked Sun.

ɴᴏᴛ ғɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ. ᴀᴄǫᴜɪʀɪɴɢ.

"Not answering me works too," Sun added.

"Wait. Neo." Jaune pointed at her scroll. "Are you saying you made Blake take over the white fang?"

"That doesn't seem like her." Nora looked off into the distance. "Blake was never the leader type, was she?"

Neo needed a short message for Jaune. ʜᴇʀ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ.

"So I'm following more of this than I expected," said Sun.

"I'm not," said Sage. His voice was deep and earthy. Probably some accent, but hard to tell with only two syllables.

"So _you_ set Blake up with the white fang?" asked Sun. The emphasis on _you_ meant Neo's appearance was still working. It also meant that Sun knew what she needed. The heavy stuff he alluded to.

"She did kill their former leader," provided Ren.

"Her?" Sun demanded, turning to Ren, but pointing backwards. Sage glanced over, confused.

Neo grabbed Sun's chin and pointed his face into her scroll. ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ғɪɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ruby, face sinking. "I thought you trusted me."

 _Oh no._


	28. Go Sadness

**Go Sadness**

Time stopped. Everything faded. The classroom dropped away, off the edges of Neo's vision. The Haven students, then Nora, Ren, and Jaune. All Neo could see were those eyes, brows rising to a point above them. Ruby wasn't supposed to have that face, not ever.

This was the first time Neo had felt this way without the spill of blood. Usually her own. Everything was coming apart.

Ruby's need was Neo's need. Except she didn't need Blake for Blake's sake, only to make those eyes go away. How had Ruby misunderstood so badly? Neo told her, _I trust you._ She'd never said, _Trust me._ What a fool somebody would have to be to trust Neo. But Ruby had already met that standard.

Time resumed.

ɪᴛ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴜᴘ. Neo maintained her composure. Can't let them see you weak. _Don't worry, Ruby._

 _Sometimes things work._

"What," said Jaune. "And you didn't think she'd want to know?"

 _I was protecting you._ No, Ruby wouldn't like that. She hated some truths. Deflect.

ʜᴇʀ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ. Blake hadn't contacted them, and _had_ contacted Sun. Whatever her circumstances, she had to in some way be aware of that. It was understood. Didn't need to be said. Neo tended to notice the nonverbal stuff.

"I..." Ruby averted her eyes, and seemed to deflate. "I miss her," Ruby whispered.

Neo had been right. Sort of. Blake would bring Ruby pain, so it was right to send her off. Blake would distract Ruby, so it was right to send her off. Blake would occupy her. It was happening already.

But it had passed the point where ignorance would solve anything. Blake had gotten herself involved, and now Ruby would need to see her. And Neo would be by her side, as she'd pledged her life to Ruby's suicide mission.

Blake, or someone under her, had better be of use. Because Neo was already paying them in pain and complication.

Neo handed her scroll to Sun, then hugged Ruby. On it were the words, ʀᴜʙʏ ɴᴇᴇᴅs ʜᴇʀ. ᴡᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴅᴏ.

"I'll ask her, but seriously you guys, she has a _lot_ going on right now, and she didn't even have time for me. And I'm..." Sun brushed his hands down his jacket, which chose that moment to pop open, revealing his chest. "I'm me."

"Oh, there's no problems then," Nora assured him. "She'll care about us a _lot_ more than you."

"Now listen here, Nora." Sun pointed at her, but his hand still had Neo's scroll.

"She's right," said Sage.

Sun turned to him, betrayed, and finally threw up his hands. "You win. Beset on all sides here." Ruby nudged Neo off of her. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, although it didn't extend far inwards.

Neo snapped a few times and pointed at Sun's hand,which was holding her scroll at least seven feet in the air.

"Oh. Sorry." Sun held it out for her. Neo held her hands in front of her in refusal.

"She means to use it," said Jaune.

"I don't want to give you her number if she says no."

"That scroll was purchased two hours ago for a cost of thirty Lien," said Ren. "If she says no, Neo will purchase another."

"Fine. Leave the room." Sun backed into a corner of the classroom, strips of light from the blinds playing across his face as he walked.

Neo opened the door and walked out. The others, besides Sage, followed. There were no students around, but they still kept their conversation to a whisper.

"I don't think professor Rama believed us."

Now Neo understood. Ruby was friends with Sun, and the man gave her access to Blake. Ruby was friends with Blake, and she trusted that Blake would give her what she needed as well. It wasn't that her form of friendship was altruistic, it was just more... implicit.

"He seemed skeptical that we could be so well-informed."

Ruby befriended Neo, and she walked behind the girl to their deaths. _Stop it. Ruby has a plan. She has a power._ It was more complicated than that. Yes, Ruby got an ally. Ruby got protection. Neo...

"I say we bring him some evidence!"

Neo got hugged. Neo got company. Neo made fewer fists when she went more than an hour without breaking a bone. Neo got, at rare moments, to speak.

"Like what? They already know the white fang is in the city."

Neo also _gave_ hugs. Neo tolerated Ruby's friends, and worked to include them. Worked to include Ruby herself. Went out of her way to please Ruby with everything she did. No hurting. No killing. No smart moves.

"We can't get evidence of Cinder without getting, well, Cinder. And by that point we won't need Haven."

Neo got that feeling in the pit of her stomach when she saw Ruby sad. The one that made her life grind to a halt. The one that was more bad than nearly anything in Neo's life had been good.

"Do we know that Cinder is a free agent?"

Could Neo leave, or was it too late to make that feeling go away?

Sun opened the door, and the whispers stopped. "She says she'll see you tonight."


	29. Speak of the Devil

**Speak of the Devil**

The first was inarguable. ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ ғᴀʟʟ. ғᴏʀᴍs ᴏғ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ: ᴅᴜsᴛ sʜᴀʀᴅs. ᴅᴜsᴛ ʙᴏᴡ. ᴅᴜsᴛ sᴡᴏʀᴅs. ʀᴇᴍᴏᴛᴇ ғɪʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴊᴜʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀɴᴅ. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ᴀᴜʀᴀ. ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ ʙʟᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ.

"Active attack blocking?" Asked Jaune.

ɪғ sʜᴇ sᴇᴇs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ, sʜᴇ ʙʟᴏᴄᴋs ɪᴛ.

"Any attack?" Ren looked up from cleaning his guns.

Neo nodded. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʀᴜʙʏ.

"When you put it that way, it feels pretty impossible." Nervousness bled through Ruby's voice.

Neo nodded again. But she was trusting Ruby on that. ʟᴛ. ᴀᴍʙʀᴏɢɪᴏ. Neo didn't have a picture for this one. Or even a last name. First name? Whatever Ambrogio wasn't. ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs: ᴄʜᴀɪɴsᴡᴏʀᴅ, ʟᴏɴɢ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜ. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴅɪʙʟᴇ ᴅᴜʀᴀʙɪʟɪᴛʏ. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ.

Who should be next? Neo tapped the right half of the screen away from Cinder's picture, but it scrolled through a few other headshots before she found Emerald. The split screen made it nearly impossible to see what she was writing, especially with the scroll's low resolution screen, but the words were large and clear on the television screen on the hotel wall behind her. ᴇᴍᴇʀᴀʟᴅ sᴜsᴛʀᴀɪ. ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs: sɪɴɢᴜʟᴀʀ ɪʟʟᴜsɪᴏɴs, ᴘɪsᴛᴏʟ ᴡʜɪᴘ-sɪᴄᴋʟᴇs. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: ɪʟʟᴜsɪᴏɴs, sᴛᴇᴀʟᴛʜ.

Nubu raised her hand.

"Singular illusions?" Asked Nora. Nubu lowered her hand.

"She makes you see what she wants," said Ruby. Neo had reviewed the broadcast lead-in to the fall of beacon. She took a guess why Ruby was glaring.

ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɴᴛʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ sʜᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ sᴇᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇᴀʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛᴇᴠᴇʀ sʜᴇ ᴡᴀɴᴛs. ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴇxᴛʀᴇᴍᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇs ʀᴇǫᴜɪʀᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴇғғᴏʀᴛ. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴜᴘ. ᴜsᴇ sᴍᴇʟʟ.

After a pause, she scrolled once more. Thankfully, Mercury was next. ᴍᴇʀᴄᴜʀʏ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ. ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs: ᴍᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄᴀʟ ʟᴇɢs, ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀɴᴅ, ᴀɪʀ ᴅᴜsᴛ sʜᴇʟʟs. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: ᴀɢɪʟɪᴛʏ. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ.

Ruby's mouth pressed itself into a line. Nubu raised her hand.

ʏᴇs ɴᴜʙᴜ?

"I wish to know how to fight these men if you aren't nearby. Why are you the best against them?"

ᴀᴍʙʀᴏɢɪᴏ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴ ᴄʟᴏsᴇ ᴄᴏᴍʙᴀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴʟʏ ɴᴏʀᴀ ʜᴀs ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ ʀᴀɴɢᴇ. ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ʀᴇǫᴜɪʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇғᴇᴀᴛ ᴍᴇʀᴄᴜʀʏ ᴀᴛ ᴀɴʏ ʀᴀɴɢᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ᴅɪᴇ. ɪғ ᴍᴇʀᴄᴜʀʏ ɪs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴇᴍᴇʀᴀʟᴅ ʀᴜɴ.

"If durability is Ambrogio's best defense, then you are not playing to your strengths against him," pointed out Ren. "If you can't disable your foe in a handful of strikes you take great risks."

ʜᴇ sᴡɪɴɢs ᴛᴏᴏ sʟᴏᴡ. It was common among the men Adam appointed to leadership positions. Ren nodded, and Neo scrolled through her pictures to a mug shot.

ᴄᴍᴅʀ. ᴇʙᴏʀɪᴄ. If Blake lacked control over one white fang cell, it would be his. ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs: ᴅᴜsᴛ-ɪɴғᴜsᴇᴅ ɴᴇᴛ, ᴅᴜsᴛ sʜᴀʀᴅs. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: ɴᴇᴛ ʙʟᴏᴄᴋs ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛɪʟᴇs. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: ғʟᴀɴᴋ ᴏʀ ᴜsᴇ ᴀ ʟᴏɴɢ-ʜᴀғᴛᴇᴅ ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ.

Neo looked around the room. Nubu and Ren were rereading the text on the screen. Nora was staring at the ceiling. Jaune and Ruby were watching Neo with odd expressions on their faces.

ᴏʀ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ. Jaune's expression might have meant, I still can't believe you're doing this. Or it could have been that her information was so clear. That seemed unlikely. She'd battled Eboric once, two years ago, during a bodyguarding run in Mistral. He'd been easy once disarmed, but she got the feeling that battle had some element of luck. She would beat him now. The man was past 40, with Neo still approaching her prime. Was it awe or admiration? Neo wouldn't know those if she saw them.

Ruby's expression was calm. Studying. Searching Neo's face. Well, search away.

"Is it possible that Blake controls any of these?" Asked Jaune. Neo shook her head. It was possible Blake defeated them, or even ran them off; Neo didn't know her strength too well. And it was also possible that they would pledge to her, if _they_ didn't know Blake very well either. But they were controlled by anger. When they realized what Blake was doing, they would rally, attack, or just leave. There was no situation in which these men would be allies.

Neo scrolled to the next picture.

ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ ᴛᴏʀᴄʜᴡɪᴄᴋ. She hadn't heard about him since the night on the destroyer, but it was best to be prepared. ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs: ᴄᴀɴᴇ, ғɪʀᴇᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛɪʟᴇs. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: ʙʟᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄᴀɴᴇ. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: ʜɪɢʜ-ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs ᴀᴛ ʀᴀɴɢᴇ ᴏʀ ᴛʜʀᴏᴡs. ɪғ ʟᴏsɪɴɢ, ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ ʜɪs sᴋɪɴ ᴏʀ ɢᴇᴛ ʜɪᴍ ᴛᴀʟᴋɪɴɢ. She looked at Ren's guns. ᴏʀ ᴅɪsᴀʀᴍ ʜɪᴍ.

"Touch his skin?" Nora cocked her head to the side.

sᴋɪɴ ᴏɴ sᴋɪɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛᴇs ʜɪs sᴇᴍʙʟᴀɴᴄᴇ.

"What kind of semblance would cause its user to be defeated?" Ren didn't look up.

ᴇᴍᴘᴀᴛʜʏ.

"Empathy?" Ruby sounded confused. Maybe she didn't know the word. No, she probably knew it. Some other reason.

ʜᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʟɪɢʜᴛ.

Ruby asked, "Can we... convert him?" But Neo started shaking her head before she finished.

ɪᴛ ɪs ᴀ ᴡᴇᴀᴋɴᴇss. That's what Roman had said. Fight your desires and inclinations with knowledge and strength. Let nothing hold power over you, _especially_ yourself.

Yet he'd been the one to save her. And when Neo had left him, the first time at least, he'd asked her to stay. She'd danced from his touch that night. She'd told him in words, but that hadn't stopped him from asking to feel. Asking to truly understand why.

Neo always did the ending.

ᴛᴀʟʟᴡʏᴄʜ ᴀғᴏɴ, ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜᴛᴄʜᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴏʟᴅᴛᴏᴡɴ...


	30. A Track and a Train

**A Track and a Train**

Of the all locations in the world defensible enough to support human habitation, Mistral Gorge was the largest. Its urban neighborhoods trailed into residential districts in the north and south, and on its sloped hills to the east and west were the terraced farms that kept its people fed.

At least until the peaks. The watchtowers on most mountaintops were automated or skeleton-crewed these days. On days when the train didn't run, a person could walk through a main street out in western agricultural and not see a soul. In her younger days, Neo had longed to do just that.

The train wasn't scheduled to run today, but Neo still stood, Ruby's hand in her own, watching one pull into the station. It was the only movement she'd seen in the town. Other buildings on this street had signs for shops and an inn, but no lights were on, even though the sun was nearly touching the peaks.

The train's doors popped open, revealing six purple-garbed white fang holding Rifles. _Two each._ They advanced onto the platform to surround Neo, Jaune, and Ruby between them. One entered the circle to pat them down. He took Iris from Neo's belt and moved to Ruby.

"Give it back." Neo had heard the voice before, but never with that note of command in it, the expectation of obedience. "She could kill you unarmed. The other two I trust." Blake Belladonna, exiting the engine car. Dressed in an outfit halfway between her old clothing and the white fang uniform. Wearing a thin white fang mask over her eyes, left arm in a sling and a cast below the elbow. "Let's talk upstairs." More white fang left the train behind her. Ruby's head locked to her and didn't look away.

The station was two stories to accommodate a walkway to the other platform, with its bulk on the near side. The group passed a ticket window before heading upstairs, which besides the walkway had a small waiting room, some employees-only doors, and a disused snack stand. Blake opened one of the employee doors and ushered Neo and her former classmates into a small room furnished like an apartment. "Set a perimeter," she ordered before closing her subordinates out.

"Blake I missed you so much I'm so happy to see you!" Ruby bounded over to the woman, opened her arms, and froze. "But, uh, I don't actually know how to do this."

Blake removed her mask, set it on a table, and hugged Ruby with her right hand. "It's been too long. I've been busy. Really busy. Where are Ren and Nora? I heard they were with you." Her eyes were puffy and dark.

"They're with a Sanctum student who went there for help. We... got kinda rejected at Haven," Ruby told her. "Pyrrha's sister, if you can believe it. She's nice but, like, really, really polite. It's kind of freaky. What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing." Blake smiled. "How's Yang?"

Neo stepped into a blind corner past the doorway and tuned them out while she typed. The building was stone, but this room was drywalled and painted pale green. A covered ceiling light illuminated the room, which had blinds drawn across the windows on the one exterior wall. There was a table with three chairs, a bed with plain white sheets and some boxes underneath, and a full-to-bursting bookcase. Not a typical train station employee store room, in other words. If it were set up by the white fang - and given that they were using it, it could have been - it might explain why the town felt even more deserted than Neo thought it should. Maybe it was her imagination.

Too many ifs. Neo added an afterthought and held up her scroll. ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ ғᴀʟʟ ᴡᴀs ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ғᴀɴɢ ɪɴ ᴍɪsᴛʀᴀʟ. ᴡᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ. ᴄᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴜs? sᴏʀʀʏ ᴛᴏ ɪɴᴛᴇʀʀᴜᴘᴛ.

Blake scanned read it in an instant. "You won't like what I have to say. I have some leads and some men on a stakeout. Can you be a resource?"

Neo tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't have many men that can fight hunters. If I find a location, I'll need people like you to follow up. I'm in no condition to fight Cinder myself."

"Of course you aren't," said Jaune. "We need information and you need force. But Blake. Do you trust them?"

"Of course not. I trust who I need to trust. I verify what I can. I work to..." She blinked. "I inspire them. I inspire loyalty. I try."

"And what comes after?" Asked Ruby.

"Huh?" Blake shook her head to clear it before turning to the girl.

"After Cinder." Ruby swept her arm around the room. "When everything is fixed again. Are you going to come back to Beacon?"

Blake scoffed. "Why would I waste my time making plans for _that_?"

Ruby set her mouth into a line. "We will fix it, Blake. We're huntresses. It's our job."

" _You_ aren't anything, Ruby. You're a... an academy dropout. Jaune too." Despite a noise of protest from Jaune in the back of the room, Blake continued. "And we," she pointed to Neo, "we are criminals. Terrorists."

"You're a huntress and that's final," declared Ruby.

"Fine. It's not worth arguing." Blake walked back over to the table and fitted her mask over her eyes. "I'll call your scroll when I find anything."

"Wait, that's it?" Jaune stepped closer. "We barely said hello!"

"Do I look like I can sit down for dinner with you?" Blake snapped. "I have twenty bodyguards in this building and I should've brought more. I'm organizing hundreds of full members and a thousand loose affiliates from... from drugs, prostitution and terrorism and pointing them at a superwoman who can kill us all with a thought. I have funds for just over three weeks of operation, and without all of the illegal activities I ended I'm _not_ going to get more. This entire house of cards will come crashing down in a month with me on the top floor. I've killed four people this week, ordered the deaths of two more, and conflicts I started have killed eleven. I'm..." She faltered, but forced her way through. "I'm keeping count." She walked towards him, leaving a streaming afterimage suspended in her wake, like a camera with the shutter left open. "I'm leaving so that when Belle's White Fang burns to the ground, my commanders won't think you're important enough to hunt down and kill too."

Blake jabbed a finger into the middle of Jaune's chest, knocking him back. Her aftereffect vanished. "Feathers!" She shouted. "We're done here."

The room's door opened, and in stepped a seven foot tall man in a white fang lieutenant's mask.

The man looked familiar. Tallwych? Blake recruited him, and he was actually _working_ for her?

"Call the men across the walk," Blake ordered. "We're backing out. And I don't want to see anyone touching what they shouldn't. You're driving." Blake walked to the door.

 _Feathers? Tallwych is a bear faunus._

Neo dove into Blake just as Tallwych roared and swept his arms in front of him, arm blades extending and sweeping through where Blake had been walking. She landed on Blake, half against the wall, pressing into her cast, and had the bizarre urge to apologize.

She couldn't afford to. If Blake hadn't reacted to Tallwych, she had seen him as Feathers. The Butcher wasn't alone. And if nobody had stopped him from reaching the door, it meant that Neo, Ruby, Jaune and Blake _were_ alone.

From the hall came clapping, and Tallwych stepped out of the room. Past him walked Emerald and Mercury. Mercury kept clapping and smiling like he was having the time of his life. Emerald, next to him, looked down and seemed like she was trying to disappear. In her hands she held the masked, bloodied head of a bird faunus.

"Well done on the save, Neo. You know, when they said you'd flipped, I didn't believe it." He placed his right hand around emerald's shoulders and rocked her forwards. She startled, and dropped the head, like she'd forgotten she was carrying it. "There's your feathers, Belle. He's not a great conversation partner. Kind of like someone else I know. But don't worry, we won't all have to sit around being socially awkward."

He stepped past the threshold, and nearly into Neo's reach. Belatedly, Emerald joined him.

"Because none of you are leaving this room alive."


	31. What a Day this is

**What a Day this is**

ᴛᴀʟʟᴡʏᴄʜ ᴀғᴏɴ, ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜᴛᴄʜᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴏʟᴅᴏᴡɴ. ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs: ᴀʀᴍ ʙʟᴀᴅᴇs, ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴀʀᴍ ɢᴜɴ, sᴛᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ʙɪᴛᴇ. ᴅᴇғᴇɴsᴇs: ᴘᴀʀʀʏɪɴɢ, sᴇᴍʙʟᴀɴᴄᴇ, ᴀʀᴍᴏʀ. sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ: sᴛᴇᴀʟᴛʜ ᴏʀ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴡʜᴇʟᴍɪɴɢ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀs. ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ғɪɢʜᴛ ʜɪᴍ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ.

Mercury stood in front of Emerald and Tallwych, smiling. _Did they track Blake? Or us? Does it matter?_

Tallwych hit hard, and his semblance let him ignore attacks from the person closest to him. He was slow enough to dodge, but the room was cramped, and he only needed one solid hit to send Neo flying.

Emerald, for all that she looked under the weather, would be fighting with Mercury. That made Mercury the threat. Actually, it made Mercury unkillable. But if Neo distracted them, maybe Ruby could pull off an upset against Tallwych while Neo was still alive. Then Ruby and Neo could get killed together.

If they ran, they'd be followed. Blake's dead guards meant they had the building under control. Running might just spring another trap. But what could be worse than Emerald and Mercury?

 _Fighting others with Emerald and Mercury behind you._

Neo grabbed Iris and stood up. Jaune was faster.

"You monster!" He shouted, swinging his sword. Merc took a step forward and kicked Jaune's shield into his face, making him stumble. But the second of distraction let Neo move past him, to Emerald.

Tallwych, still next to Emerald, stabbed an arm at Neo. His sword struck glass. Neo swung Iris in a circle, low to the ground, hoping the real Emerald was anywhere near her projection. She hit a shin when Iris appeared to hit Emerald's shin. _Huh._ Was Em projecting into somebody else's head? Did she not see Neo as a threat?

"You'll be number five." Blake, perhaps weary of life, stood up and stepped into Tallwych's reach. The man struck down on her shoulders from both sides. Blake lifted both arms to block both attacks, her left arm lifting straight out of her cast and sling. _No, it didn't move._ She gripped his blades in two arms, shadowy and decaying, while her real right hand struck him in the chest with her sword. Neo stepped back to back with him before she struck again. He grunted and ripped his weapons away, shattering her shadows.

Neo popped out Iris's blade and lunged for Emerald, who ducked. Neo popped Iris open and swung it down behind her legs. Merc was too smart to attack there, of course. He kicked her in the back, slamming Neo into the hallway. Behind her, she could see Tallwych swing and miss Ruby, cutting the room's bed in two.

 _Come out then, Mercury. Leave Ruby and her friends alone. Tallwych can handle them._ She hoped it wasn't true.

"I guess you really needed that hand." Merc jumped through the doorway, foot forward. Neo closed Iris and blocked with its shaft, distributing the kick's force between her left hand holding the handle and her right palm at the umbrella's cap. He fired a shell out of reflex, but the shot went wide. _Nice try._

"Now, Em." The woman's eyes widened and she blinked, turning to Neo.

Merc went on the offensive, his body fuzzy, extra limbs jumping out at random times. Low kick after low kick, trying to damage her ankles or sweep her off her feet. It was a bad angle to use Iris, and Neo couldn't tell which limbs were real, so she dodged as much as she could. Every time she moved towards Emerald he scored a hit, so Neo just backed down the hallway to the stairwell. She needed to get him away. Far away. And take him down before Emerald could respond.

"Emerald, _come on_!" Mercury whined.

Jaune jumped out of the doorway and tackled Emerald, who cried out more in surprise than pain. Mercury's image solidified as he tried to kick Neo through a window. Neo glassed, dodged behind him, and pushed him out of it instead.

She pushed air. "Too easy." Behind her, Mercury appeared and shoved her through the glass. _Ruby!_

Her sloppiness would cost her. Neo popped open Iris just in time to correct her fall. _Stupid. You trusted something. Emerald was there and you trusted something._ Her feet touched pavement.

All around her, the street was moving. A bullhead, flying low overhead. White fang, bowled over left and right by Ren's strikes and Nora's hammer. Nubu, trying to duel a wide white fang lieutenant Neo didn't know, whose torso was surrounded by a bubble of water. As Neo watched, Nubu stabbed towards his head, but he just grabbed a sphere of water from the mass at his chest and caught her spear's point in his fist, the ball of water suspended in his grasp absorbing the force.

Seeing the targets, Neo wanted to go pink, but she knew Ruby was still upstairs, now outnumbered. At least if you don't count Jaune, or counted Mercury and Emerald multiple times. Her eyes stayed silver.

Neo slide-tackled the water man, but he barely seemed to notice her behind him. She kicked his thigh, and he turned around. Nubu also looked at her for the first time. "I can't hurt him!" Nubu yelled.

Neo pointed to the broken window above them and snapped. At least Nubu used wide, sweeping attacks to hit through Emerald's illusions, and her flexible range might help against Mercury. She could keep them distracted until Neo showed up to help her close it. Or die slowly enough that Neo would be there in time to save Ruby.

Hopefully. Never mind that Neo hadn't been able to hit him at all.

"Yes Ma'am!" Nubu yelled, throwing her spear towards the window, dust firing from behind. The man reached again for her with his hand, but she shot away after her spear like the tail of a kite. He got a hand around her foot, which shot from his grip, spraying water.

"Nora!" Shouted Ren, throwing a grunt in her direction. Whooping in delight, she knocked the man with her hammer like she was swinging a bat, and his body shot through an upstairs window of the store across the street. The same one where the three had been waiting in case of trouble.

"You'll do," decided the lieutenant, facing Neo. Neo gave him an appraising kick in the chest. It was like he was covered in molasses, but worse. She barely withdrew her foot before he could grab it.

Neo needed to bring him down without striking through his bubble. Fine. She had never heard of this man before. Few fish faunus in general, fewer still in the white fang. His gills stood out.

He swung a hand at Neo. She dodged to the left and dragged Iris across his stomach, scraping the umbrella's ribs against him. She peeled some water off, which splashed to the ground. The other water redistributed itself, and his bubble barely shrank.

 _Too slow. Ruby will die._

Ren and Nora were doing fine. Neo needed to clean up the street so that they could concentrate on her opponent. She danced away from him and into a man with a rifle, taking a few hits on her aura. She kicked the rifle up from his hands, pulled her foot back to chamber it, and kicked him through a faded sign advertising toothpaste. As the man's rifle fell she caught it with Iris, spun in a circle, and loosed the rifle like a sling bullet. The rifle struck another lackey in the head, knocking him down and spinning his mask halfway around. Few white fang still standing. Neo closed Iris and jumped over Nora to bash her next target in the head.

"Hey!" Nora pulled her hammer back just in time.

Neo pointed at the lieutenant and snapped her fingers. Even if she could get out a scroll and type, her current scroll was too slow.

"Fine, fine. He doesn't really yell when you hit him. Ren! Big guy!" Seeing the man was already attacking her partner, Nora took off to aid him.

Neo knocked down a man with a sword, somersaulted onto him, and threw him into the lieutenant's watery back, where he stuck. The man spun his arms for balance and rocked backwards, earning a grenade-powered strike from Nora and a palm from Ren. A parting shot. _Sorry for stealing Nubu and running, but Ruby is about to die._ She might miss the jump back through the stairwell window. Faster to take the stairs. There was a faunus with a mace guarding it, but he didn't look like a problem.

Above him, the wall exploded. Stones and debris shot out in a cloud from the second floor, pelting the street and surrounding buildings. Neo heard Ren shout.

Mercury landed in the middle of the street, boots scraping and tearing up the asphalt. He looked at Neo and grinned. "Nice friends you got, Pink. Shame they chose you."

Neo wasn't sure who did it or how, but she would have to leave Ruby in their care for a little while longer. Mercury was alone, and Neo would kill him.


	32. Living for You

**Living for You**

Neo couldn't check her scroll, but she knew her body. Aura would be just under half. She couldn't tell much about Mercury, save that his was still up. A fair fight, if she was lucky.

Both had seen the other fight. Neo could win if Merc's aura was under three quarters. Technical exchanges, no overextensions, and she would come out on top. Merc was a strong and a good reader, but she was more flexible and might be faster. And she had a better weapon, if she stayed in close range.

More white fang were leaving the bullhead, and she wasn't sure about Ren and Nora's fight against the water man even without them. Ruby was still fighting Tallwych, Emerald, and any other white fang that joined them. Neo jumped towards Mercury and swung Iris. She didn't have _time_ for technical exchanges.

Merc blocked the blow with his hand and spun, transferring the momentum into a kick. Neo glassed and kicked the back of his knee from below. He backflipped, firing a shell, and landed five feet away.

Neo was there, jabbing his stomach with Iris, winding him. He chopped towards her neck as he doubled over, then kicked off with a pair of shells, flying over her head and abandoning the hit as she went to block. He shot midair to spin around and kick her from behind, but Neo popped open Iris to block his leg, shoving him back into his original trajectory. That meant he landed facing away from her, and Neo kicked him in the back, but he rolled away and settled into a light stance before she could hit him a second time.

This time Mercury attacked. He kicked off, leading with a boot, and Neo held Iris to absorb it. Instead he shot more shells and dodged around it, getting inside her guard and punching. Neo took the hit and fell backwards, Iris hooking him from behind and bringing him down on top of her. Neo caught his legs on her feet and kicked up, flipping his body over her head, then let go of Iris and punched his head as he spun past.

 _If you can't disable your foe in a handful of strikes you take great risks_. One solid hit and her aura went from half to a quarter. She grabbed Iris.

"What's wrong, Neo?" Both stood. "Feeling a bit pressed for time?"

Two white fang off the bullhead trained their rifles on Neo and opened fire. She crouched and hid behind Iris, leaving herself open to Mercury. He jumped and axe kicked, so Neo swung Iris upwards to block, exposing herself to the riflemen. Merc fired off a round and popped over her, so she fired Iris's canopy into his leg. He landed on his side, and Neo stabbed him out of habit with the bare blade and closed distance with the shooters, blocking what shots she could. As she ran, one had Ren thrown into him, crashing together with the hunter through a storefront. The other turned in surprise, letting Neo stab him enough times to break his aura and ribcage. Ruby would have to understand. Where had Ren come from? There were no more white fang recruits visible. The lieutenant was fetal in the street, engulfed entirely by water, while Nora screamed Ren's name and hammered on the bubble.

Barely any aura after the rifle shots. Neo would have to be careful now, because if...

Merc kicked her square in the back. Neo and the dead man's body slammed together into a traffic pole and Neo saw stars. They rebounded and fell to the ground, the man's corpse pinning her down.

No aura. No strength. Merc smiled. "This must be very stressful for you. Don't worry, it won't last long."

"Nope!" Shouted Nora. She jumped and smashed the lieutenant's bubble again, firing off another charge and flying towards Mercury on the recoil. When she reached him, she fired another blast to get spinning.

 _She has to know she'll lose._ Mercury crossed his forearms in front of him and absorbed the blow, sliding ten feet straight back, gouging parallel lines in the street with his boots. He ducked inside her next swing and caught the handle of her hammer. Neo saw sparks where he grabbed, but it didn't stop him.

 _Nora can't exchange blows. He'll kill her._ Neo shoved the corpse off of her, gasping, and rose to her feet. Five steps to merc and nora.

 _One._ Left hand on the hammer, Merc raised his right foot and kicked Nora. She dodged his second kick and changed her grip, moving to the other side of the hammer.

 _Two._ Nora swung under the hammer, now held between the two, and kicked.

 _Three._ Merc caught her leg between his own and wrenched the hammer from her grip.

 _Four._ Nora fell to the ground, ankle still pinned above Merc's knees.

 _Five._ Merc grabbed Nora's ankle in his hand and stomped her stomach straight through her aura. Neo's foot took him in the head, snapping his aura in turn. He landed across the street. Nora was out of the fight, if she was even still awake. Neo advanced, but Merc flipped to his feet.

Once again, Neo and Mercury squared off. Another even fight that Neo had to win, even more quickly. Behind Mercury she heard crashes and a man's shouts coming from the train station's upper story. At least it wasn't Ruby screaming, but there were two reasons that could be.

Mercury moved, letting Neo see Emerald behind him, standing in the station's doorway. Her face was a mess of blood, mucus and tears. He jumped straight at Neo, who held up a hand to block. Instead of coming straight, he swung his feet around in midair and rocketed to Neo's left, before swinging his feet around again and firing again, to come straight at her from the side.

Neo heard a click, and he landed instead. Mercury was out of shells. It was an uncharacteristic mistake. Shooting himself off course, then running out of ammo before he could correct?

 _Don't trust it. Don't trust anything. Don't trust that most of all._ It would require perfect timing.

She could predict when and where his leg would hit if he hadn't adjusted his course. Neo glassed and moved to the side, stabbing right where his leg was. Only it wasn't.

Mercury, from where he'd appeared to be, kicked her in the chest. A strategic flaw. His strength had always been in reading people, and Neo was just too predictable. She fell to the ground, hitting her head and back, and gasped for air. Her head landed facing right, and all she could see was Emerald looking at the pair. Something crunched when she hit the pavement. Her scroll.

"Well, I think we can agree that was thrilling." With effort, Neo turned her head over. Merc was standing a few steps away, bruised but alert. Behind him, the lieutenant was crouched over Nora's body, grinning like a child, holding a bubble of water around her head. "But this is where we part ways. I didn't get a chance, so why don't you tell your friend Ruby that she was boring the whole time, right until the end." Neo tried to speak, but all she could manage was a gurgle. What was he saying? He couldn't be saying...

Mercury raised a boot in triumph, and stomped on the asphalt two feet from to Neo's head.

"That's weird," Mercury muttered, looking down. There was a crack and his body flew backwards, spewing blood from his chest. Neo heard footsteps and someone grabbed her chin, turning her head to the right. Emerald's hand. Her other held her pistol. Neo could smell the fire dust. Smell. She was supposed to use it. Someone had said that...

"Neo. You have trust me. You have to help me," Emerald babbled, crying. Neo was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open. "I've seen what she's doing. What Salem's doing. I can't"

Emerald gasped when the blade of a scythe sprouted from her chest. Blood dripped from the tip and out of her mouth, covering Neo's chest. _I_ _knew you were alive_ , Neo wanted to say, but she couldn't say a thing before the world went black.


	33. Ruby, No

**Ruby, No**

Ruby Rose was alive.

Neopolitan was too, surprisingly enough. She was lying in a bed. Her chest was tight with bindings, and her chest and head ached.

But Ruby Rose was alive. Right? She'd seen her scythe. Neo would open her eyes, and there Ruby would be, at the foot of her bed, passed out, hanging halfway out of her chair. And Neo would wake her, and Ruby would smile, and they would speak together, and everything would be right again.

Neo opened her eyes. It was night. She was in a dark room, sterile white, with curtains half-drawn around her bed. Ruby Rose was draped across the bed by her feet. _Called it._ Neo smiled, and reached out to tap the girl. Ruby would want to know she was alright. Neo wanted Ruby to know.

"Yang, just five more..." Ruby snorted before sitting up. "Neo! I... I'm so happy you're alive. What hurts? Do you need anything?"

Neo stared.

"Oh! Right." Ruby fumbled through her pockets and handed Neo a scroll. "It's your old model, I think. Your new one got broke."

Neo smiled, then realized she'd been asked a question. ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴏʀʀʏ ʀᴜʙʏ ɪ'ᴍ ғɪɴᴇ.

"Yeah, fine in that the-doctor-won't-let-you-walk-in-under-a-week way." Ruby wiped the smile from her face. "Nora is dead. My uncle Qrow found us, and he saved us, but Nora died. He wasn't fast enough."

Neo set her mouth into a line. The woman had meant a lot to Ruby. ɪ ᴡᴀsɴ'ᴛ ғᴀsᴛ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ. sʜᴇ ᴅᴇғᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇʀ ʟɪғᴇ.

"I know you did everything you could. We all did. They..." Ruby looked down.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴇᴍᴇʀᴀʟᴅ?

"Qrow saved us." Ruby swallowed hard. Qrow?

Qrow had done what Neo had wanted to do, and Ruby realized it was necessary. Accepting the death of her enemies. It _could_ be a good thing. Neo remembered Qrow having a sword. Had he picked up Ruby's scythe? Was he the one that knocked Mercury out of the building, too? Or was it Nubu? Or Blake?

ʜᴏᴡ ɪs ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ

"Ren is resting at the hotel. He's almost better. It's been three days, by the way. Jaune needed surgery for his foot. He won't walk for a month, but it might just be a week or two with his aura. Blake got a nasty cut on her ear, her cat ear, her left cat ear. And she broke her arm, the broken one, she broke it again. But we couldn't get her to stay in the hospital long enough to get looked at, so I don't know when she'll heal." Ruby paused. "Nubu is fine, just cuts and bruises. Her parents want her to come home, but she said no. And I got away without a scratch. Again."

Ruby took Neo's hand. "It's not that I'm so much better, and I didn't run or anything. I was together, fighting with them the whole time. You have to believe me."

Neo nodded. She did. She trusted Ruby.

"It's just that when things started going bad for me, that was right when Qrow showed up."

If there was ever a time to tell Ruby, it was now. ǫʀᴏᴡ ᴡᴀs ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ɪ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴜᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪᴋᴏs ʜᴏᴜsᴇ.

Ruby read the scroll and looked at the foot of Neo's bed. "Qrow also told me something." Ruby exhaled and shivered, like she'd been dunked in cold water. "He told me that you killed Blake's white fang members after you captured them."

How did Qrow know that? Neo had been alone in that alley, besides the obvious. How had Qrow trailed her so effectively?

 _He did the same to the others before I arrived._ Yet somehow it didn't seem right that it should happen to her. Or that he would've been watching her when she was away from Ruby. Unless he could do both. Just what _was_ his semblance? ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ sʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ.

"Yes, I'm sure she was too much for you." Neo got the distinct impression that Qrow had told Ruby more details about the meeting. "Was it her choice that you keep _that_ secret, too? We were going to be honest with each other, Neo."

She'd messed up. Neo messed up and now Ruby was angry with her. ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴀᴛ ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛʏ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ɪs ᴡʜʏ ɪ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴘʀᴏᴍɪsᴇᴅ ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴛʀʏ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇʀ ɪ sᴡᴇᴀʀ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ

"I can't be on a team with someone that lies to me, Neo. I can't be watching my friends too. And lying about not murdering is about as bad as it gets."

No! Keep working. Things can work out. Anything. ᴍʏ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴍᴀʀɪ ɪ ᴡᴀs sᴏʟᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴀɢᴇ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴅʀᴜɢ ᴅᴇᴀʟᴇʀ ɴᴀᴍᴇᴅ ɴᴇʀᴏ ᴍʏ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴍʏ ᴍᴏᴍᴍʏ ɪ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ʜɪᴍ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀs ʟᴀ

"Enough, Neo. Keep the scroll. And thank you for saving my life." Ruby stood up, teared up, and walked to the door.

ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ. Neo banged on her headboard, but Ruby didn't turn around to look. So she pulled herself to the side of the bed, positioned her feet on the ground, and slipped from the sheets.

Neo's legs buckled, spilling her to the floor in a heap. Her chest started aching as a stitch popped. Her scroll slid under the bed. She still had strength in her arms. Neo began to crawl.

The fall made Ruby turn around. The girl looked Neo up and down and walked back. Ruby lifted Neo by her armpits and placed her back on the bed. "Be safe, okay?"

"I love you, Ruby. I love you," Neo spoke.

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Neo. I love you too." She leaned over and kissed Neo on the forehead. When she straightened, her face was solemn. "But love isn't enough."

And she walked out.


	34. Thank You for Sending me an Angel

**Thank You for Sending me an Angel**

It seemed wrong that there was nobody to tell.

Nora was a star, lighting up the night sky. When all others dimmed, she shined, unwavering. Nothing in Ren's life had ever been so constant.

He half-listened to Qrow's explanation of the plan. A base outside the kingdom, thought abandoned. Corruption. In Mistral it wasn't far-fetched. The entire place could be bought and sold, at least if what Ren had seen about the armed forces held true for the rest of the kingdom.

It was taken for granted that Ren would stay with them. Ren closed his eyes. He _would_ stay with them. He had nowhere else to go. Nobody to seek out, spend a night at their house, and tell them that their daughter was dead. The people that truly cared about Nora were all in this room. The ones that hadn't beaten her to the afterlife.

He _could_ leave. He never was the star pupil. Just quiet enough to stand next to them without anybody noticing. Ready to take a hit for them, but not capable enough to take two. Or at least not three. Four. Enough.

"The fair folk think it's all theirs," Qrow was saying. With Qrow around, they wouldn't even miss him in combat. Far from it. Probably wouldn't miss Neopolitan, gone as quickly as she swept in. "I don't know what they've been promising humans, but somehow they got allies, and for the first time in centuries they're making a big move. One maiden's power might not be enough for them. There's a maiden in Mistral, but she went to ground when the CCT blew and despite my considerable skill, I haven't been able to find her. So there's our choice. We protect the summer maiden in atlas, find the spring maiden here, or look for the fair city directly."

Nubu raised her hand.

"Fer dust's sake, just speak, you're wasting everyone's time."

"Mr. Branwen, what would we find in the fair city?"

"They're not like maidens, but the fair folk have powers. And I don't know how big it is, or how many there are. There's a lot of unknowns. That's why I think you kids deserve to have a voice."

"This is it, isn't it?" Asked Jaune. "This is the tipping point. Either we win or the grimm do."

Qrow scoffed. "It's always been the tipping point. Except humanity's only option has been to lose or stay still. Cinder captured the autumn maiden's magic using a gift from the fair folk, and Ruby was able to punish her for it. The power of Argents doesn't affect normal humans. It's our first clue that we may have a new weapon."

"I don't want to be a weapon," Ruby whispered. "Hasn't there been enough killing?"

"These people, or whatever they are, they made the grimm, Ruby. They're not playing with kid gloves."

"They made them, can't they unmake them?"

"I don't know." Qrow took a sip from his flask. "And I don't think I'll ever get the chance to ask."

Moving on, all of them. Ren could pretend to join them. They might even believe him. Avoiding scrutiny was one of his talents. When they'd returned from the attack, the headman had shunned Nora as a harbinger. Carrier of misfortune, who remained unscathed each time, to better infect the next group foolish enough to take her in.

Ren, he'd ignored. And Ren had stuck by Nora, never once letting her believe it. She hadn't believed it, had she? She'd seen Ren give up his happiness, and told him she'd smile enough for him too.

Nobody was smiling now. _You were wrong, headman. You said she would survive. Every time, I expected it. Even if I suffered for my closeness, I knew she would survive._ It was the function of harbingers. If they weren't alone, others died in their place. Ren had made sure Nora was never alone.

"So. Ruby." Qrow bent over her chair, locking eyes. "You're the special one. What's your call?"

It just seemed wrong that there was nobody to tell.

 **Words, Volume 3 - End**


	35. Let's Go (Words: Attenuation)

**Words, Volume 4: Attenuation**

 **Let's Go**

Neo waited.

One day until the doctor said she could walk. After previous experiments, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Fine. No walking today. She would sit in her bed like a good little girl and wait for the clock to tick. Read on her new scroll. Neo waited for her body.

Neo waited.

The sound was muted, but she still watched the news on the wall screen. Once or twice a minute, her gaze tracked across the ticker at the bottom, waiting for the notice that visitors from Vale were found dead. There were any plenty of other headlines that could catch her eye, too, like ones about the Nikos. If they went public, there went Nubu's contacts. Neo waited for tragedy.

Neo waited.

Neo was wanted in Mistral twice over. Both as Neopolitan and as Mari, from before. Mari, funny enough, was sought on a child welfare case _and_ as a person of interest regarding the disappearance of her family. The rest of her family. Mari had already been disappeared for a while. The nurses called her Polly, but how long could that last? So Neo waited for the law.

Neo waited.

She wasn't hard to find. Sure, there were close to a hundred hospitals and clinics in Mistral, but Mistral General North was the second largest, and Polly was a known alias. Maybe not yet known to Mistral law enforcement, but known to Blake Belladonna. And certainly known Cinder Fall, and whatever faction of the white fang she still controlled. Maybe Ruby checked her in under the Mistral domestic abuse anonymity laws, but it seemed unlikely that she'd know them in the first place, or that such protections would hinder large criminal organizations. Maybe Cinder just didn't care enough. Neo waited to die.

She sighed and closed _The Kingdom of Mistral: Geography and Landmarks._ Somehow, geography always bored her. Few things could lose Neo's interest as quickly as fiction, but this book managed.

Back to research? She'd spent two days looking for the Salem Emerald had mentioned. Or at least, that Neo thought she mentioned. For all their popular appeal, flashbulb memories weren't especially reliable, and Neo had been in the process of bleeding out while Emerald had spoken. Maybe the days spent sleeping let her brain record the memory better, but that sounded farfetched.

All she'd found were fairy tales. Salem, the magician. Salem, burning the cruel children. Salem, half grimm. It was obvious Emerald had cracked, but Neo hadn't comprehended the level of nonsense inside her brain until she found herself perusing fairy tales in a desperate search for answers.

There was as little to go on as there was to do. Stuck in bed, clueless. Tomorrow she was supposed to start PT. If she was well enough to use a walker, she was well enough to leave. She was useless just waiting around.

But where to go?

Neo had alienated Cinder, and likely other organized crime outfits in the city. One or two might still hire her on, if word hadn't spread. Some others would want to if word _had_. But if somebody views your defection as a merit, it means they place little stock in loyalty. Again it came down to whether Cinder cared enough to end Neo's life, but in this case, the end was more indirect. And it wasn't even something Neo could blame on her. Neo invited it when she threw away her old life for Ruby Rose, the impossibly kind friend that abandoned her.

Neo was not an impulsive person. She hadn't been in the past, anyway. She'd started at the bottom, and worked her way up piece by piece. Certainly she'd had help. Roman, for one.

Where was Roman now? What would he say, if she found him, and offered bare skin? The touch he'd been denied in the past. Giving him the knowledge, the feeling, of why she'd done it. Why she'd felt it was right. Laying her soul bare. Would he take her back?

The doctors hadn't made a big deal about her hand. It was all she could hope for. It seemed to ache more now, maybe because her aura was busy elsewhere.

No. It was because she couldn't distract herself any more. Aches and pains didn't matter as long as Neo could keep moving forward. Stuck in her bed alone, she had nothing else to focus on. Pain in her chest or pain on her hand. And always, always, pain in her head, behind her eyes.

She could reinvent herself. The first time had been Roman's doing, but she got the idea of how it worked. Polly was a burnt identity, at least once Mistral caught up with Vale about Cinder and her team, but Lita could work. Better still would be to start fresh. Exchange her umbrella for a bat or something, and call herself Iris.

And what would she say, or type, when people asked about the other young short mute criminal enforcer?

The more Neo thought about it, the more she hated the only path left to her. But there were no alternatives. Word would spread to other kingdoms in time.

Should she be _happy_ that she memorized Blake's number?


	36. Talk to the Wind

**Talk to the Wind**

Ren's watch. He sat on a log and stared out at the forest, motionless. He could've been in a tree, but it's not like the tents would hide themselves too.

Jaune hobbled over to him and sat down. His foot was just sore. And not even that sore. It was healthy enough that he didn't hobble all the time. Specifically when Qrow was watching. Jaune had a lot of practice being the picture of health.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"I do not." It was Jaune's watch in a five minutes anyway.

"How are you doing, Ren?"

"Fine." Ren's gaze never wavered. His head moved back and forth as he scanned the treeline. Every minute, his scroll buzzed, and he turned around to check the field behind them. Jaune wasn't nearly so careful on his shifts.

"Not in much of a... talking mood, I take it?"

"No." Typical Ren. Maybe even more so. He'd barely said twenty words in the past two weeks. Just walked, and stood, and sat, and slept with a mask of indifference on his face.

"Well, do you mind if I talk then? I won't be too loud."

"No." Scroll vibration. Turn around. See nothing. Turn back.

"I've been thinking about Pyrrha."

Ren didn't react. _Why am I waiting for him to interrupt me?_

"Right, I'll just talk. I've been thinking about Pyrrha. Maybe it's having her miniature clone sister person around, but I can't get her out of my head. The night she... the night she died. Just keeps going through my head, over and over again."

Ren finished scanning to the right, and began to turn his head left again.

"We were running from the tower. I was scrambling around my scroll for numbers. When she stopped, when she looked back and we saw the red reflecting through the building, we both knew what happened. And I think I understood instantly what was about to happen. I didn't want to admit it to myself, Ren. But I knew what Pyrrha was going to do.

"It was the look in her eyes. Well, that confirmed it, I guess. Really I knew what she would do because of who she was. Pyrrha Nikos, the..." Jaune took a ragged breath. "The invincible girl."

Scroll vibration. Turn around. See nothing. Turn back.

"She knew Cinder was going to destroy it. And that she would kill. She knew Cinder would destroy everything we loved. And all she ever was knew that it was her destiny to stop it." He forced the words out. "So she did."

Jaune stopped staring at Ren's face to turn around. Just looked like a field. He didn't understand why it would hold new interest every minute, but such were the joys of guard duty.

"The thing is, when I go over that night, I can't just remember what Pyrrha did. It's never that simple. The entire night is just a series of bad decisions. Not Pyrrha's, but mine. At every step, I failed. It's..."

Jaune had to get it out. It wasn't about himself. "The fall maiden died because I didn't stand and watch for Cinder. And I'm not saying you have to stay up until morning, by the way, I'm just saying that night I failed. Then Ozpin tells Pyrrha to leave, because she has to get me to safety. And I'm trying to call Glynda, but I can't find her number, so nobody was there in time to help. It all circles back to me, Ren. From every angle, I'm the reason things didn't work. Every step, I failed her."

Scroll vibration. Jaune turned around with Ren, scanned the field, and turned back. Ren to the treeline, Jaune to Ren.

"Pyrrha knew it, too. That despite all the time she spent on me, I was never even average. Maybe thirtieth percentile across all academies. Then she wasted more time and effort sending me away. And it wasn't easy for her. I mean, it was, I just got through saying I'm weak. But emotionally it wasn't easy for her. It might have prevented her from concentrating on her fight. It might have made her hesitate at a critical moment. From top to bottom, Ren, it was all me."

"Jaune Arc." Ren turned to him. "Pyrrha was a smart, capable woman who made a reasoned decision to risk her life for the safety of those she loved and believed in. It isn't right for you to claim her agency for yourself."

Jaune gave Ren a warm smile. Then he pulled Ren's arm in close, grasped hands, and shook.

"Tag. You're it."

Ren looked down at their hands, up at Jaune's face, and his mask slipped. Jaune saw the fear and the pain, just for a second, before they were covered up with a furrowed brow and slight frown.

At least it wasn't indifference.

Ren's scroll buzzed. He stood up stalk straight. "Please begin two minutes early." Without waiting for a response, he hurried over to their joint tent and slipped inside.

Maybe it would help the man. Maybe it wouldn't. All Jaune could do was guess what was going through that green and pink head of his. But smart money was on guilt.

Jaune had some experience with that. And if speaking meant that Ren would have less experience, he would talk until he was blue in the face.


	37. Ask Yourself

**Sylvia: Ask Yourself**

"Shell. Come inside."

Sylvia walked into the office of Belle, real name Blake Belladonna, and closed the door behind her. Quite by accident, she'd ended up in the girl's, no, the woman's confidence. Blake thought of herself as a woman. That should settle the matter.

"Thank you, Shell." Blake massaged her head, still worried that her identification of her second-in-commands through faunus features threatened to objectify or animalize them, but more scared still of learning their names and connecting with them on a personal level. Sylvia wanted to let Blake know that she didn't have much to worry about with her, but it might be awkward to bring up. "Sit down."

"What is it, Belle?" Asked Sylvia, taking the free chair.

"The white fang is in a curious position right now," began Blake, letting Sylvia see how it ended. It was mostly stuff she'd known before. Lack of funds, lack of trust, hopelessly large obstacles, a smattering of half-formed exit strategies. That was where Sylvia featured. Sylvia had never been in Blake's exit strategies before.

"You've been strong, resourceful, and loyal to me these past weeks." Sylvia had been Blake's second for 13 days, actually, but to Blake that was two days from a record. "I want you to know the situation that we're in. I'm out of meaningful factions to absorb and loot. Mistral is mine. That means I have about eleven days of Lien before I'm ousted and the white fang goes... feral."

Sylvia affected surprise.

"Let me lay out the options." Drugs, intimidation, lashing, flight, betrayal. "I can dip a paw into a criminal sector, perhaps drugs, we have somewhat of a captive audience by now and I've caught a few subordinates trading even without my permission. That would let us limp on with core functionality intact. I can tell people we're cutting wages, live with it or don't. I can attack human criminal organizations in the city. I can run and let my successor figure it out. Or, I can turn in the white fang in exchange for a deal and be rid of the whole mess. Each approach has problems."

"Mistral military is too corrupt to trust," volunteered Sylvia. "Turning the white fang to them would end in a reverse-sting and get you killed. And the police aren't equipped for a war with us. If you declare war on the human underground you'll have a bloodbath, win or lose. If you try to keep the white fang together with no capital, the white fang will splinter again and even your underlings would hate you. You'd be using force and fear to keep faunus in line, which you don't want to do."

"And if you run, your successor would either go back to crime, or be me. And I'll be facing the same problems you've got right now. Looks to me like you need to sell some drugs."

Blake shook her head. "That's exactly what I've been thinking," she admitted. "I guess I just needed to hear somebody else say it. Thank you, Shell. I mean it. I haven't had a chance to genuinely talk to about this stuff."

Which Blake needed, since she wasn't a natural leader. The woman leaned back in her chair and stared at her ceiling light. "I'm not a leader, Shell. I'm just not cut out for this stuff. I don't know how Adam did it. Love him or hate him, and believe me I've done both... he outmatched me in a lot of ways." Blake was thinking again about asking Sylvia's name, but decided it was too late. "You're with me for the haul, right, Shell?"

Sylvia hadn't meant to end up in such a high-profile position, but now that she was here there was nothing for it. If she said no, and left the woman without support, Blake might just run and leave her to lead the white fang by herself. "I'm with you, Belle." Damn her predecessors for dying so easily. Oh well. Sylvia could always leave herself if Cinder got too close. Maybe fake her death, Blake wouldn't look twice. The woman was surprised Sylvia had lasted _this_ long.

"Good. There's somebody I need you to meet." At first all Sylvia could see was the killer of Adam, an association with such a bounty of emotions it crowded everything else out. She squinted until it resolved into finer details. A woman, around Blake's age. Friend of a friend, or more. Strong. Fast. Mute. Untrustworthy.

Blake pressed a button on her scroll, and behind Sylvia, the door was opened. She knew who it was, but Blake was watching her, so she turned around.

Neopolitan, well under Sylvia's five foot four. Neopolitan, pink and brown eyes under multihued hair. Neopolitan, an umbrella on her belt, nearly scraping the ground.

Neopolitan, bandaged and weak. Once named Mari Jani. A remorseless murderer who's killed for good reasons, for bad reasons, and for no reason at all. A confluence of trauma and pain. Too damaged to understand friendship or kindness. Backed up against a wall, with nowhere to go.

And above all other words and thoughts and ideas, a girl named Ruby Rose, and desire.

Sylvia found Neopolitan unsettling.

"This is Neo," said Blake. "She killed Adam. She was injured protecting me last month from the ambush by Cinder's hit squad and the rogue white fang. I owe her my life." But she didn't trust her, not even a little. And Neopolitan didn't seem to trust anybody.

But neither one planned to betray the other, not in any meaningful way. Blake might tell Neopolitan that she was in contact with Ruby Rose, or Neopolitan might imply that she attacked Adam while the man was awake, but neither had genuine ill will. Only a willingness to overstate their claims in pursuit of mutual understanding. They _wanted_ to trust, but each hedged their bets, assuming the other to be doing the same thing.

Sylvia could barely remember before that night in the hospital, with the soldier and Mr. Ozpin, but she didn't need to wonder what life was like for normal people. She could see it every time she opened her eyes.

"Neo, tell Shell why you're here."

Neo wrote her message on a scroll, which Sylvia was obliged to read. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴇʟᴘ ɪɴ ᴀɴʏ ᴡᴀʏ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ. Then she typed some more, and Blake narrowed her eyes. ᴀs ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀs ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs ᴀʀᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ.


	38. Run

**Run**

The others were all examining the town, but Nubu kept her eyes on Master Ren. The rest had lost a classmate. He had lost something much more.

It must be hard for him.

The inn was where Mr. Branwen had told them, but it wouldn't have been easy to miss in any case. The town only had a single street of note, with another on either side, and some scattered buildings past where the streets ended. Besides the main street, they were just paths. Big things would usually be flown this far north.

Master Ren's eyes tracked across the snow left in the street. Only the walks, right next to the buildings, were cleared. His face showed nothing. This was what saving the world meant. Would he follow Ms. Nora? The reunion, now overdue? Those paths would be gone in an hour, buried.

Lights were off in the town, except for the inn and a few upstairs windows. Jaune led the way. He opened the door to a vestibule barely large enough for himself, passed through once the outer door closed, then motioned for the others to follow.

They entered into a cozy, slightly chilly room with a few low tables and some ash in the fireplace, lit by electric lights and chilled by heating vents in the ceiling. Judging by the lack of wind, the fireplace flue was shut. Master Arc was peeking through a doorway, looking for someone in charge. Nubu and Ms. Rose followed Master Arc's lead and threw off their cloak's hoods. One table was occupied, by a big woman and two bigger men dressed in furs whispering back and forth, casting the occasional glances towards the Nubu and the other students. They had an assortment of weapons next to their seats. Bladed. Weapons for generalists. Nubu used a pointed weapon, good for grimm.

Master Arc found the innkeeper. Nobody in a town like this could survive only on guests. He had a second job of some sort. The man was solid and strong, in his early thirties, and bundled up despite the room's relative warmth. Just got back inside through a back door, maybe.

"I've only one room," the man was saying.

"Great. We'll take it," said Master Arc. "It's just so miserable out, we need to stay indoors for a night." Saying more than he needed to.

"Forty Lien for the night," the man said.

"Eesh," answered Master Arc. _Don't attract attention._ "Ren, money?"

Master Ren was starting at the wall behind the huntsmen.

"Ren, money?" Master Arc tapped his shoulder.

Master Ren turned to him, stuck a hand into a pocket, and emerged with four cards. He handed them off, never removing his eyes from the wall. There was a corkboard there, with a dozen papers pinned.

Nubu walked past the huntsmen to the board. Bounties. One she even recognized: Tallwych Afon. 50,000 Lien for a live capture. Odd that they'd posted a bounty of him in such a remote area, white fang leaders weren't the run away and live in the wilderness type. Had the authorities figured out he was dead, or had Mr. Branwen not left enough remains to identify? Was the innkeeper in charge of removing inactive bounties?

No, wait, she recognized a second. Nubukha Nikos. 10,000 Lien for return unharmed. The printing was grainy, but her face was clear, as was her armor.

Father was angry.

Nubu walked back over to Miss Rose, studying the other walls. Fishing through her pockets, Nubu found a paperclip. "Please put this tight around that switch over there," she murmured, nodding her head to her left. The huntsmen still cast the occasional glance their way, but they hadn't ever stopped whispering, nor had their whispers seemed to grow in urgency.

Miss Rose took a few steps closer as though examining one of the amateurish paintings on the wall, then leaked a few rose petals. The clip vanished from her hands.

"I'll show you to your room, then." The innkeeper walked into the hall. The rest followed him.

Nubu neared Miss Rose. "Thank you, Miss Rose. I'll be a moment." Nubu stayed in the doorway, hand on the hallway lightswitch, and waited for the others to reach the stairs. She stared at the board. Perfect aim was a necessity.

Nubu yanked the paper clip around the lightswitch, pulling it down while she flipped the hall switch, leaving the floor almost entirely in the dark. Then she pulled on the four tacks holding her picture on the board evenly, but one must have been stuck than the rest, because Nubu heard paper tear. She pulled from the top of her head so that the angle would counteract gravity and relaxed her pull strength when she felt the resistance lessen, so that she wouldn't pull the other papers in the arc she was sweeping.

Nubu was hit in the chest with a small ball of paper and metal, which she caught. Then another tack hit her in the head. Must have been loose. It fell to the ground with a quiet clink.

She stepped out of the doorway and into the hall. Then she pushed up from her foot at the lightswitch in the room while turning the hall lights back on with her free hand.

Both went on three seconds after they'd gone off. The huntsmen started murmuring about what had happened. A flicker? Electricity wasn't always so reliable out in towns like this. They talked over the paper clip hitting the ground from Nubu's push popping it up off the switch. No need to look more closely at the postings. No need to wonder about a girl grabbing a posting. It was the best she could do.

Nubu unwrapped the paper as she ascended the stairs. Three tacks and three corners. The missing corner could be a problem. She had the picture and the details, but the top of her sheet only identified her as Nubukha N before the tear.

The innkeeper was showing the group the room on the left of the upstairs hallway. It would be cramped even without Mr. Branwen, off checking on something. Even without Miss Neopolitan. Nubu walked in behind them.

Nobody paid her any mind, save a glance from Master Ren.


	39. Hate to Say I Told You So

**Hate to Say I Told You So**

Cinder was so much better with technology. Neo hated the fiddling. Compared to how much time she spent on her scroll, she didn't know very much about how computers worked. Only what she read.

She knew people, at least to some extent. She'd read about where they kept passwords. But General Jet seemed to buck the stereotype, because Neo couldn't find his anywhere. At least she had time.

Neo - Lita, for now - took a short break from poking around his computer desk to explore the rest of the home office. It was slow going, with the security cameras everywhere. Another advantage to working for Cinder. And to being allowed to break what you needed, from cameras to those watching them.

Neo was doing things the _right_ way.

Hopefully whoever was watching the feeds, if anybody, wasn't checking that individual books remained on the shelves frame to frame. She found notes on proposed base layouts and restructured benefit plans, which she dutifully photographed. One book just had columns of numbers, probably keeping track of bribes or something. But in Mistral that hardly mattered, not without names to go with them. Noting so far seemed important. _Significant._ Worth risking her life for.

Was that the door? The general only left an hour ago.

Neo glassed and jumped to the study ceiling, grabbing the edge of the skylight inset. Then she glassed again and flipped through the skylight, landing flat on her back on the roof, on the opposite side of the skylight from the camera she'd spotted. _Just the hard part left._ Neo took a deep breath, glassed again, and heaved the glass back into place. By the time she'd settled it, she was hearing voices.

Neo put in an earbud, plugged it into her scroll, and lay down. She'd say this for Shell: The woman might not have any fancy computer viruses, but her toys were much cooler than any of Neo's previous employers. Not that Neo was getting paid for this, of course.

"-Is my office," said a male voice in Neo's ear. The general, making things easy again. "But I'm sure the finer points can be... glossed over." His voice was deep, rich, and jovial. Who was he talking to?

"Who's watching those camera feeds?" Said the voice of Cinder Fall.

One of the best parts of mutism is that Neo didn't need to suppress a scream. Instead, she only started hyperventilating and wondered if she was going to faint. Neo was mobile, but she hardly felt _powerful_ , and even at her best she could never fight Cinder. Maybe run from her.

Neo willed her heart to stop. It didn't seem to make a difference.

The general responded. "Oh, I disconnect those off the job. It keeps my personal pursuits more... discreet."

"A fine decision," purred Cinder. Neo almost felt sorry for the man. "Tell me, Brian. How many soldiers are you rotating into Diamond's Edge in the next four months?"

"Now Antimony, I hardly think that's an appropriate topic of"

"Brian Jet. Don't you see? You _want_ to tell me your troop rotation for Fort Diamond's Edge."

"I'll have to look it up, but at least three quarters of the troops and half the officers, although the three senior officers will stay." Gone was the man's cheerful tone. He spoke quickly. She had something on him, she had to. But why had he earlier sounded so happy, perhaps even eager?

"Hmm." Cinder was planning something. _Nothing to do with the bug. She can't know it exists._ How did Neo end up here? Did Shell send her in knowing Cinder would be on site? Did Blake?

Hopefully not. _They can't be that stupid._ Cinder was less than 10 feet from unraveling the entire white fang and getting halfway to Ruby besides. At least Cinder couldn't see through ceilings.

"Antimony, just-"

"Brian Jet!" Yelled Cinder. "Why don't you see? You want to speak when spoken to."

The man shut up.

"Now. Let's see what we're going to do. Brian Jet, if you look, you'll see that you want no new troops to be placed in Diamond's Edge, even as the old troops rotate out. In fact, you'll want that many troops to leave the fort within _one_ month. The adjacent watchtowers, too. And you of course don't want to mention me to anybody."

"Yes, Antimony." It didn't sound like intimidation any more. Cinder was doing something to the man. And whatever it was, it wasn't something she could do when Neo knew her last.

"Oh, and Brian Jet. Open your eyes. You obviously want to speak unprompted sometimes, just never to me. I'm leaving. If you see me again, it's because I need to speak to your in private. You'll want to arrange that. Now stay still for an hour." Footsteps.

Neo would give Cinder this: The power suited her perfectly. Neo gave it a five count before she opened her scroll again. She pressed the key to turn off the bug - it might survive one or two inspections if it wasn't broadcasting, although it was too short range to do anything when Neo wasn't nearby - and took out her earbud. She wrapped the cord, placed it in her pocket with her scroll, and got up.

"Oh, Brian Jet!" Cinder shouted from several rooms away, loud enough to hear through the roof. "If you're not blind, you may notice you want to breathe!"

Neo heard a gasp.


	40. Touched

**Touched**

Pilo looked left, and Summer warmed. The snowy dirt path was a downgrade from the paved road she'd been on, but the snow was at least shallower on the path than around it. It almost seemed like some was melting from Pilo's bare proximity. Summer's proximity.

Pilo was still hungry. She grabbed the strap of her pack and pulled it an inch before Summer chilled. _What, do you just want me to starve?_ Summer never had kept her fasting for two days of travel before. There had better be a very good reason.

The path branched off as she walked, or rather, the furrow in the snow did. Pilo looked down every path as they came, but the only warmth she felt was trapped in her layers and layers of clothing.

Finally, after what Pilo's stomach could only assume was hours, the path ended in a cozy looking log cabin. There was smoke rising from the chimney. Out front, a young blonde woman swept snow from her front walk with a broom held in her one hand. She looked up as Pilo drew near.

"Hello?" The woman was hesitant. Nervous. Not sure whether to be confrontational.

Summer stayed quiet, so Pilo did what she wanted to do anyway. "I saw your chimney. May I eat my food by your fire?"

The woman opened her mouth before looking Pilo up and down. "I'm about done here," she decided. "Come inside."

The inside of the house looked much more modern than the outside suggested. Modern electrical wiring and decent insulation on the outside walls. Still not Atlas, of course. The house was built in a U around a central room with doors on its three internal walls and some multi-paned windows on the fourth. In one corner of that room was a raised fireplace, with a small dog curled up in front. It perked up its ears as Pilo and the woman entered the room.

"I'm Yang," the woman said.

"My name is Pilo. Pilo Qutinnguaq. Thank you." Pilo reached out her right hand. The Yang moved her stump for a second. Her face flushed and she turned around.

"I'll be right back. Zwei, bark if you need me." She walked out, keeping the door open to waft some heat to whatever room she was headed.

As she left, Pilo copied her. How often did she really need to double her personal gravity, anyway?

Hmm. An active use. Pilo sat on in a chair in front of the fireplace, unpacked her rations, and turned it on.

So warm! And not just warmth. A stray hair, hanging out over Pilo's face from when she removed her hood, was glowing. She looked at a picture on the wall, showing a couple posing with a blonde toddler and a black-haired baby. The frame of the picture was what mattered.

It was a poor mirror, but Pilo's hair definitely was emitting a gentle brown light. And not only that, but were her eyes red..?

Footsteps. After a few seconds of trying, Pilo was able to turn the semblance off. She unwrapped a trail bar and ate half before Yang made it into the room. The lingering effects of the semblance stayed warm deep inside.

"I have some hot water, if you like." She held a teapot in her hand, with a drawstring pack over her shoulder, and no coat. She set the teapot down on the table next to Pilo's food and flipped her pack around to her front, adding two lightly chipped teacups, one chipped saucer, and a selection of teabags. She looked like she might have more to say, but couldn't figure out how to word it. Whatever _it_ was.

"Thank you," said Pilo. She poured hot water to the brim of one of the cups and started drinking.

"You're not..." Yang began. "Who are you?"

"My name is Pilo Qutinnguaq."

"Yes, but why are you here?" Asked Yang, pouring her own cup of hot water and selecting a teabag, keeping one eye on Pilo.

Oh! Trust. Yang thought she might be dangerous. With Summer around, Pilo tended to forget about suspicion.

"I'm on a journey." Then Pilo added, "I'm trustworthy."

"There's not much on Patch. Where are you headed?"

Patch? Oh, here. Here is patch. Pilo was fairly certain she'd crossed water to be here. An island, most likely. Was the whole island patch? Was the island big enough for towns? It didn't matter.

"I don't know. I didn't plan the journey."

The Yang smiled and tried to be cheerful. "Well, how are you getting off Patch?" By the principle of induction, patch _was_ an island. Or perhaps it wasn't and the woman Yang didn't know that. Pilo was taking a course in formal logic. They might expel her again when they realized she left. Atlas schools were _so_ strict.

Pilo frowned. "A boat, probably." What a weird question. This Yang was a weird person. Pilo finished her water and went back to her ration bar.

"Well, when are you leaving?"

"Iunno," Pilo said through a mouth of granola. "Phrofafly affer thif."

"This?" Yang took a step back, eyes widening. "What's 'this'?"

 _Summer? It's her, isn't it?_

Summer warmed.

 _What does she get?_

Summer froze in Pilo's veins. Despite sitting next to a fire indoors wearing a coat, she felt like she was naked in the middle of an atlas winter. Summer had never chilled her like this before. Pilo shivered.

It could only mean one thing.

Pilo stood up and swallowed. "I have a gift for you, Yang. Use it well." She lunged forwards, striking with the edge of her hand. Dropping her teacup, yang blocked it with her arm. That was just as well. It could be anywhere, just so long as they touched.

Yang stumbled back, more from surprise than the light touch. She looked at Pilo, angry, then confused. Her eyes blinked from purple to red, then purple, then red, then purple again.

"What did... what did you do?" Yang fell to her knees and then doubled over onto her hand, retching. She began to hyperventilate, clouds of frost puffing from her mouth. Her dog ran up to Pilo and began to bark.

 _So. Where to next?_

Pilo pointed a hand in front of her and spun in a slow circle. Summer warmed when she was pointing just to the right of the fire, so she stopped. Pilo took a step, and Summer gave her a warning shiver. _Fine then._

"Hey, Yang." The woman was still on the ground, on her side now, and glaring up at Pilo. Her mouth was forming words, but all that came from her frosty lips was ice. "You have to go that way." She pointed. "I thought it was me, but it's you. Sorry for the confusion."

Yang, her hand around her stomach, reached her stump up towards Pilo. Frost began to collect on the tip, forming an icicle. Her dog ran from the room.

"That's, um..." Pilo rooted through a pocket. It was the wrong pocket. Next pocket, she found her compass. "That's due north. All right?"

The icicle grew longer, and with a grinding sound, bent in half. Yang stared at Pilo with raw hate in her eyes. That was unusual. Most people like gifts.

Oh well, maybe she'd like a second gift, and Pilo didn't need a compass anyway with Summer around. She left it on the table by her teacup. "It'll be a trip. I hope that's all right. I know this is sudden and all. Thanks for inviting me in, you have a lovely home, but I think I have to go." After a moment she added the rest of her trail rations. Summer would find her more food.

Pilo looked back at Yang, who was reaching towards her with a fully articulated hand made of ice. Yang caught a glimpse and turned to her stump, wide-eyed, like she just realized what she'd done. Then she vomited a pile of half-frozen food slush and passed out.

Pilo dragged her body to a wall near the fireplace, wiped her mouth, and propped her into a sitting position. Then she looked for a dustpan or something around the house, but she couldn't find one around the house and Summer was getting impatient, so she just scooped what slush she could into the teacups and set them back on the table. Yang's new arm was melting, but the hardwood looked treated.

 _Summer, did you see any paper or something around?_

No response.

 _I'm doing this because you want me to, you know._

Still nothing.

Pilo took out her scroll and typed, ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ, ɢᴏ ɴᴏʀᴛʜ! ᴘs ғᴏᴏᴅ ɪs ɢᴏᴏᴅ, ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴘᴏɪsᴏɴᴇᴅ. Satisfied, she turned off the scroll's lock and left it on the table next to the compass. Then she bundled back up and left the cabin, burning her semblance to stay warm.

 _So. Where to next?_


	41. Get Action

**Get Action**

Neo pinned her feet under her box spring and sat up. It had been a while since she'd been wound up enough to exercise. Nonviolence, even when so many deserved it. Everyone agreed on that! In fact, with the exception of the people that deserved it, everyone even agreed on who. It was as black and white was it could get.

Twenty three, twenty four. Neo rolled over and began some push-ups. The worst part was that she wasn't even being told to do it. Well, not exactly. She'd been the one to request jobs requiring a subtle touch. Covert. Good for her semblance.

Twenty three, twenty four. Back to sit-ups. This was all Ruby's fault. The stupid girl had left her here while she was off doing who knows what. Probably not even in Mistral any more. It had been weeks now. Ruby loved her. She'd said it.

Twenty three, twenty four. Jumping jacks. And what had Ruby given that love up for? Her uncle. He swept in with an offer of protection, and Ruby decided she didn't need Neo any more. Simple. Obvious.

Forty seven, fourty eight. Kata. Left arm was still weak, especially against resistance. Neo had decided to trust Ruby. Was it still worthwhile? Was the reason simply that obnoxious white fang scout? If only she knew how much trouble she'd caused. From Neo's life up to the fate of the kingdoms. There were stakes here, stakes much higher than some temper tantrum.

Sixteen, and rest. Not enough bed for Neo to wedge her feet under the box springs. She skipped to her push-ups rep. Cinder was moving. Clearing out border forts for some strike somewhere. Why was Neo fighting her again?

Twenty four. Onto strikes. Ruby said she knew how to defeat Cinder. Said she had a power. Neo hadn't _just_ justified fighting Cinder because Ruby could beat her. Neo had justified fighting _at all_ because Ruby was by her side. And now here she was, working as a special agent to another criminal boss, not even getting paid for her role in her hopeless, loveless fight.

Mid-strike, Neo's hand was caught. Oh. Shell had entered her room.

Oh. Neo had destroyed her door.

Oh. Neo had destroyed her room.

"Perhaps you'd like to see Belle," suggested the lieutenant.

Neo nodded. That sounded pleasant.

Neo couldn't see much of Shell's outfit, besides the back of her mask and her cape woven from matted vines. All else she could see was the exoskeleton running the length of her arms. Shell did like the sleeveless look, to show off her trait. Some did. It was more common in the white fang, of course, but Neo had known others that liked to be up front. Present the information and watch the reaction. Neo's mother had been the same. Appropriate, Neo felt like a child trailing behind the lieutenant.

Shell stopped, turned around, looked Neo up and down, the continued down the hall. It wasn't necessary, of course. Neo knew where to find Blake's office. Still, the woman walked to the door and knocked.

"Yes?" Came Blake's voice.

"Lita would like to discuss something with you." Lita wasn't a name that Neo had ever used before, except in very inconsequential situations. It had just been a look then, and it was just a name now. In theory, it shouldn't let anybody know who she was at all, which was the best she could hope for out of a name.

"Come in. I just finished something."

Shell opened the door and ushered Neo in. Perhaps she'd just been ensuring the health and safety of the hallway. Neo took a seat in front of Blake while Shell closed the two in.

"Neo. What's on your mind?"

ɪᴛ's ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs sɪɴᴄᴇ ɪ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ.

"I'm giving you missions based on your preference," Blake sounded hesitant. "Have those changed?"

It wasn't... well, maybe it was. It was hard to explain. Neo erased half of her message. ɪᴛ's ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs sɪɴᴄᴇ ɪ ғᴏᴜɢʜᴛ.

"You want a fight."

ʏᴇs. No special message, no moral, no deeper philosophical meaning. Neo was a fighter. Fighters fight. This was certainly the longest she'd gone without a fight since age 12. Possibly the longest she'd gone without killing since... Well, she killed one private when fighting Mercury... age 16? 17? A lot more recent, but before she'd met Cinder.

"Do you want to get your hands dirty, or are you talking about sparring? I really don't have many able to give you a run, especially not ones I can spare for bed rest after. Have you ever thought about being a trainer?"

Neo pointed to her throat.

"Yes, it would be hard. How about with Shell?"

Neo lowered her eyebrows. What about her?

"She's articulate. You could teach a class together. Get some of my sergeants up to snuff. Maybe not be so alone next time we're ambushed in the field. And yes, 'next time.'"

Neo shook her head. ᴛᴇᴀᴄʜɪɴɢ ɪsɴ'ᴛ ғɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ.

Blake shook her head. "I know. I'm just a bit strapped for talent here."

ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ sʜᴇʟʟ.

That got her attention. "Why not?"

ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʀᴜsᴛ ʜᴇʀ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴇᴀsʏ. sʜᴇ ʜᴀsɴ'ᴛ ᴇᴀʀɴᴇᴅ ɪᴛ.

Blake made a note on her keyboard. "You don't trust much, do you?"

ɪ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴛʀᴜsᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀs ғᴀʀ ᴀs ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴋɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏ ᴍᴇ.

"Well, for what it's worth, Neo, I trust you. I need competent people on my side." Blake went back to her computer, removing her mask and shaking out some hair that was pinned underneath. "I have enough of them trying to tear this whole thing apart. I can put you on a protection detail, but those are pretty low combat, and it's not a position for killing, if that _is_ your aim. Highest combat I have is wilderness escort, but I don't want to lose track of you for that long."

Blake was right about that. ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs. ᴛᴏᴜʀɴᴀᴍᴇɴᴛ ʀᴜʟᴇs.

"Tournament rules?"

ʟᴏᴡ ᴀᴜʀᴀ ᴇʟɪᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. ɢᴇᴛ sᴏᴍᴇ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴊᴏɪɴ.

"Yes, I can put a post out for some off-duty hopefuls." Blake typed as she spoke. "I'll let Shell cull the list. She knows people's capabilities better than you. As for me joining, absolutely not. I can't be seen losing in front of my men. I don't even want to be seen winning poorly. And I'd rather keep my exact capabilities from the spies undoubtedly lurking around the base."

There was one final item of note. ɪ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ ᴍʏ ʀᴏᴏᴍ.

"You broke... your room."

sᴛʀᴇss ʀᴇʟɪᴇғ. Neo felt herself blush. It was such a juvenile reaction. A juvenile situation in the first place. Couldn't she just control her mind like she controlled her body? Wasn't that supposed to be the easy part?

Blake sighed. "Can you stay in it for a night?"

She'd slept in worst spots. Her blankets might even be salvageable after she shook the splinters out.

 _Maybe I need a new prescription._ And what luck. Blake was the perfect person to ask.


	42. All I Came For

****All I Came For****

He'd sent the kids ahead once they left the town. He needed them out of his feathers if he was going to quit. The path north was sputtering out, leading into sparse forest.

Qrow took an energy bar from his pack and balanced it on a branch, then he shifted. He flew onto the branch and pecked at the bar with his beak. Tasted terrible as a bird. Everything does. In seconds, he was full.

Qrow hopped off into a glide and shifted back. He wrapped and stowed the rest of the bar; he'd be sated past lunch on those crumbs. He didn't envy the kids, with their backpacks full of food. Consuming things at a one to one ratio.

Dealing with the kids again reminded him. Qrow took out his flask, unscrewed it, and balanced it on a branch. He'd quit tomorrow. He'd always quit tomorrow. Tomorrow, when the world was saved.

A portal tore through the air nearby. Black and red. Magic. Domain of the fair folk. Qrow had a visitor.

Fair folk tended not to travel outside their city. "Raven."

"Brother." Qrow's sister nodded, sheathing her sword. She wasn't wearing her mask.

"They letting you out on walks now? Going for a tinkle?" Qrow saw Raven so infrequently, he had to get his jabs in while he could.

"Cinder is in Mistral. Why did you leave?" Raven was, as ever, to the point. Also pushy. Accusing. Raven.

"Hey, _I_ didn't do a thing. Talk to the Argent. She says north, north we fly." Qrow grabbed his flask from the branch and took a swig. He'd grabbed another bottle in town. Could afford a human-sized gulp or two.

"Turn around. We started in Vale because the world's eyes watched, but Mistral will fall within the month. You can still make it back if you hurry."

"Sister dearest, I'd almost think you were trying to keep me away from something." Siblings had to understand each other, at least a little.

"I'm trying!" Raven yelled, "to keep you alive! It's what I..." She stopped speaking, the black veins working their way past her collar and up her neck.

Qrow wanted to believe that the lines were smaller than ever. The magic weakening, losing control. Or that they were more prominent than he'd seen them, overextending, fighting a losing battle.

He wanted to, but he was far too sober to see them as anything expect exactly the same size they'd always been.

"We have an Argent _and_ we have me. We'll be fine." That's the thing about Raven. She said she didn't report back. But then, of course she would say that.

" _I_ had an argent and _I_ had you." Raven moved her hand to her sword, although she'd never draw. She was careful about drawing. Someone probably checked her dust levels every day or two. Or hour. Qrow didn't know how it worked. Raven alternated between refusing to tell him and denying that there was any process at all.

"Well, now I know more. Get underground. Move fast. Avoid the southern wing."

"It won't work!" Raven drew her sword and cut the tree in two in one motion. "They're still working on Summer's bug. Do you want to give them silver eyes?"

Qrow stepped to the side. "It still won't work," he said over the sound of the tree landing where he'd stood. "Not like they have a way to test it."

"Oh? Do you want to be the one to tell Yang that Ruby _got lost_ like her mother?"

"Why, do you? I don't know if you know," Qrow was sure that she knew, "but Yang isn't having the best year right now."

"I'm doing what I can," said Raven. And then, more quietly, "that's cruel."

"Maybe you should _consider_ being able to do more." Qrow drew Reaper and batted her sword to the side. "Unless you'd prefer that I end your endless struggle right now."

She swung back, and Qrow parried. "You're lucky they still think you're with her. They won't send me to fight you both. Go get drunk so you can catch up already."

Qrow gave her a low cut, which she blocked, anchoring her sword in the ground. He couldn't beat her, of course. "And then we turn back. That's your plan."

"It's her life, Qrow." Raven gave him a flurry of stabs, which Qrow dodged until he couldn't, then blocked. "All of their lives."

"Then I go back to Mistral and get into a tussle with Autumn. While the only maiden I can marshal is completely cracked, and even that's assuming she hasn't given Ironwood the slip again." Raven stopped attacking when he started talking, so Qrow transformed Reaper and tried some swings. "I don't like those odds."

"You don't trust Ruby to fight a half-grimm maiden," Raven extended her sword to gain some distance, "yet you're bringing her to us?"

"All she did last time was stall them, Raven. That's it. It wasn't a victory. In fact, I'd call it a defeat. And Cinder was only half of a maiden. She didn't have Inner Storm." Qrow stopped his attacks. It was childish. Neither sibling could hope to win. They knew each other too well for that. "Now Ruby, she's good at what she does. Manifested the eyes six whole years before her mother. If I'm betting the world on a freak chance, I'd like to at least win if it pays off. Maybe it's safer to go to Mistral and try to delay them, but Ozpin's gone, and that means we lose the long game."

Raven was silent for a moment, then turned away from him. "East wing." She slashed a portal. "They're about to miss me. All the way east. It won't be easy." She took a step.

"Raven."

Raven stopped on the threshold of her portal home.

"Was it worth it?" Asked Qrow. "Was I worth it?"

"No." She sheathed her blade. "But she was." And Raven stepped through and was gone.

Qrow stowed Reaper and finished his flask. _Of course Summer was worth it. That's why_ I _volunteered, before you knocked me out and took my place._

Sisters. Can't live with em.


	43. Now and Forever

**Now and Forever**

The figure in front of Neo lunged, stabbing with his cutlass. She dodged, leaning under the punch the maned man behind her threw. That left the third one to fire his pistol. One shot hit, knocking air from her lungs. Another and she was done for. She had to get to that pistol.

Neo transitioned her lean into a backbend and pivoted to spring up into a handstand. She grabbed the lion faunus's arm between her legs and flipped in midair, inverting him and hiding behind his bulk.

She loosened her legs before she landed, letting the man land on his head. Neo grabbed his foot and swung him around at the shooter. Should keep him busy. The man with the sword sliced again, but stayed far enough away that dodging was easy. He was waiting for his comrades before he reengaged. Smart.

Neo dove under a swing and tackled him, throwing her arms around his waist. He brought his sword hand in, but Neo struck it, knocking his hand away. Turning, she bullrushed him into the other two, knocking all of them sprawling, and kicked each when they tried to rise.

"Match." The referee nodded to Neo and the others on the mat. "Lita is the winner. Belle asked to see you when you finished."

Neo looked at the scoreboard. 23, 19, 7, 16, 91. One hit from a loss. Yesterday, she'd been hit to 86, losing with two opponents still standing. Some white fang officers were better than others.

She retrieved Iris's pieces from the corner of the mat, reassembled her, and took the hallway out from the gym. Blake was just outside the door, holding a bag.

"Lita. Come with me." The pair walked to the building's lot and Blake pointed to a car. _Why now? Why me?_ Neo worked alone.

The only reason Blake would want Neo's company was for protection. Obviously, it was somewhere Shell wouldn't do. Or something came up and Shell had to handle it. "I'm headed somewhere public and you won't look too out of place. Protect me. I'll drive, you need to type."

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛʏᴘɪɴɢ

"Turn on the voice." Blake got into the driver's seat and closed the door.

Neo stood outside her window and crossed her arms.

"Just use the voice, Lita." They were alone in the garage, but Blake was strict with names. "I can't read your scroll while watching traffic."

Neo didn't move. Neo wasn't a true believer. Neo wasn't contracted. Neo didn't owe Blake a thing.

"Fine." Blake pointed to her right. "Just get in and listen to me."

Neo circled the car and entered. If Blake accepted that she would lose battles against Neo, their partnership would proceed much more amicably.

"All right then. We're headed to Haven. I'm meeting some people. Needed someone my age to stay low profile. Are you a faunus?" Blake pulled onto the street.

"I'm hearing rumblings about it, is all. I'm basically sitting on a pile of a thousand career criminals that will blow up if I make any mistakes or push them or try to disband so I figure keeping them happy is a priority. They're not so sure about me having a human bodyguard." Blake turned onto an on-ramp. "Or whatever you are these days. I try not to need guards, but if I get hit on campus, running away will look terrible for me and you can just change your looks until the dust settles."

Neo typed on her scroll and held it up.

"And humanity isn't always a liability. I want to bring Haven in on this fight somehow. Your intel says Cinder's consumed the military, the PD are a joke, we need huntsmen. But this being Mistral, I don't know who at the schools to trust. You're from Mistral. Do you have any experience with the professors?"

At a light, Blake turned to look. Neo was still presenting her scroll. ᴍʏ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ғᴀᴜɴᴜs.

"I assume you mean you're not." Blake sighed. "When were you last in Mistral? Do you know Haven? Which professors to trust?"

Neo typed. Blake didn't look.

"I'm thinking of going to Professor Gintaras."

Neo typed more obviously, slamming her fingers down on each key, and held her scroll up. Blake continued to drive.

"I also like the look of Professor Pirin."

 _No. No you don't._ Neo glared while she typed, then reached out her hand, holding her scroll almost in front of Blake's face.

The car swerved as Blake pushed Neo's arm away from her vision. "Neo, just use the voice, we're on a highway!"

Fine. It _needed_ to be said. "ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴘɪʀɪɴ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴋɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴏᴛʜ," Neo's scroll announced in monotone.

To her credit, Blake didn't gloat, realizing that the voice was punishment enough. Rather, she looked worried. "So, you don't think Pirin is a good choice."

He might help, but Neo was far from _that_ desperate. "ᴘɪʀɪɴ ɪs ᴀ ʙᴀᴅ ᴍᴀɴ. ᴛʀʏ ɢᴜʟɪsᴛᴀɴ."

Blake took an exit off the highway. "Neo, I'm going to be honest, I can't tell how seriously I should be taking you."

"ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴊᴏᴋᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ. ɢᴜʟɪsᴛᴀɴ."

"I read Pirin's faculty bio, he's been teaching for years. Are you saying that he's dangerous? Hurtful? Mean?" The neighborhood was residential. They were close.

"ᴅʀᴏᴘ ɪᴛ ʙᴇʟʟᴀᴅᴏɴɴᴀ," Neo glared. She'd almost managed to forget about Pirin before Blake went and brought the man up. She might have to go kill the man anyway, on her own time.

"Neo, I trust you. I'm trusting you, but I have friends at Haven. If they're in danger... if there's a problem, I want to confront it."

"ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ sᴛᴜᴅᴇɴᴛs ᴀʀᴇ ғᴀʀ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴏʟᴅ ғᴏʀ ʜɪᴍ," read the scroll.

Neo stared out of her side window.

From the sounds of things, Blake turned her head, but only for a moment. Then she drove for a minute in silence. Neo didn't know this neighborhood. Never had.

Neo typed. "ɪ ᴍɪss ʀᴜʙʏ."

"Me too, Neo," said Blake. "I miss my whole team. I miss being a follower. Leading is just a series of questions with no right answers." Blake turned right. "Ruby left the city while you were in the hospital. She went north." She took a left at the end of the block and stopped in front of a booth, where a security guard looked at the car's occupants and raised the barrier.

Bake rolled down her window. "Excuse me. Could you point me in the direction of Professor Gulistan's office?"


	44. Somewhere Else to Be

**Somewhere Else to Be**

On the beach, Yang laughed.

It began as a smile, then a slow chuckle. Soon she was went straight through belly laughs to wheezing when her lungs refused to suck in enough air. She doubled over and collapsed on the wet sand, caking it into her hair.

"What," she wheezed between breaths, "am I doing?" She could feel frost build on her lips when she spoke. It felt cold, but not cold as she was used to it. It didn't hurt. It was like mint, minus the mint. The whole world tasted fresh.

She assumed she would reach some life-changing epiphany miles ago. What happened now that she ran out of north?

Yang picked herself up with both arms and gazed across the ocean. Nothing as far as the eye could see. If she got a boat and headed east, or northeast, or north by north by north by northeast, she'd reach the mainland. But straight north would lead her through a whole lotta nothing.

"She's insane," Yang declared. "She's nuts! There's nothing here!" Her shout went unanswered.

"Fine."

Yang sat down on the beach, brushed the worst from her hair with her hand and her other hand, and broke out lunch. She'd brought Pilo's nutrition bars because dust, after a day like that, why would Pilo poison her after leaving? All the food was weighing her down. Everything seemed heavier now without her fire — apparently it had some effect when not active, because her hair made it quite hard to turn her neck — but even on that scale, the woman had brought a lot of very dense food with her.

Too dense to consume on its own, and Yang was down to her last bottle of water. _I wonder..?_

Yang opened her mouth and condensed ice on her tongue. It felt almost like gum. She closed her mouth again and willed it to melt. Yang couldn't make it warm. She could only stop it from being ice. Her power, her semblance, stopped after that. But it was pure, distilled, and the temperature wasn't a problem.

 _Guess I can toss the bottle._

Yang had expected to find her second arm odd, hard to handle, difficult to get used to. Instead, it just made her realize how little she'd adapted to losing one. She was herself again, well, herself without her fire but maybe a second arm was a worthwhile trade. _Maybe._ Yang still wasn't happy about the way Pilo had made the call on her own. But apparently she didn't hold much of a grudge, because she'd boarded Zwei and followed the woman's compass north the next day.

And found nothing along the way. _Go north._ What did it mean? What did Pilo know? Or whoever planned her trip? Why couldn't someone, for once, just tell Yang the truth?

Yang exhaled her frustrations, frosting the beach nearby. The cold rippled outwards, freezing the surf next to her, then ten feet away, then twenty.

That... that would be stupid.

"All right, Pilo." Yang lay down on the sand, which stuck to her less when frozen together. "I came north. I don't know how you did what you did, but here I am." There was something she was supposed to do, or find, or be. Or should she just go back home, wait for dad to call back, and tell him the news? "Some woman came over and changed my semblance and now I have an arm made of ice." How would he take it? She'd had to feed the fire much more aggressively to keep Zwei warm in the house. She had the option of melting her arm. Without keeping ice around, she was barely even cooler than normal.

Of course, that would mean having one arm, even if just for a little while. Yang held it before her face, examining the fingers. The material was uniform, but she could swear there were tendons and veins textured onto the surface if she looked close. She could form other objects, but nothing with detail this fine. Couldn't even make other things move. This was the exception. This was _her._

Yang grabbed Ember Celica from her bag and put the left bracelet on, then the right. It fit perfectly. She expanded the gauntlet, and for that stretch of wrist, couldn't even tell it wasn't a normal arm. The gauntlet looked good. Ruby's handiwork. Yang hadn't taken it so well at the time, but it had only meant the girl was optimistic.

Ruby would be in Mistral now, with Juniper. Changing the world. Fighting the people that nearly destroyed Vale. They'd be outnumbered. On unfamiliar territory. Wishing Yang had agreed to come along.

Or maybe forgetting about her entirely. Yang could party, Yang could excite, Yang could fight. But not win, not if her last battles were any indication. She'd helped the team, all right, against Grimm. Or when Blake could slingshot her into the enemy. Blake beat Roman in that train car. Ruby fought Cinder in the tower. Yang couldn't keep up with trained hunters, not on her own. She was just too slow.

Yang stood up.

"Sorry, Roman." She pointed at a rock on the sand about fifteen feet away. "Be a shame if you got... _cold feet_." Ice grew around it, encasing it entirely after a few seconds.

Great. She could stop Roman from moving if he was already immobile. _Anyone_ could avoid ice growing that quickly. Yang could.

Yang held out her hands and grew icicles. That only took a second or two. Then she threw them, one after the other. She had power, even without her fire, but she couldn't keep them on target without tumbling around in the air. Yang was no Gwen Darcy.

Yang grew a sword. Like the daggers, it didn't stick to her hands. She started with an icicle, adding a handguard and sharpening the edges.

She tested the edges. It wasn't very sharp. _Great. I can make an estoc._ Piercing attacks weren't very good against aura in the first place, much less in the hands of someone that had never trained with them. Much less in the hands of someone too slow to fight.

Was this why she was here? To get her outside and planning, trying new things? In that case, was she supposed to stay here until she figured out something that worked? A way to use her power to fight in a world of speed? Attacks that can't be dodged quite so easily?

Or was Yang supposed to do the stupid thing?

She turned her gaze northward. The waves had frozen mid-crest, leaving an uneven surface. Where the ice stopped, water lapped over the edges.

Yang approached and stepped on the ice, willing it cooler. Immediately, the water around it froze, and the water around that. The ice now extended to the sand underneath for twenty feet around. Thirty.

Yang walked out onto it. She could keep a radius of forty feet frozen pretty easily, more if she exerted herself. It no longer reached the sand underneath. The ice behind her remained, although it would melt, in time. Then she'd be on an island. An iceberg.

Still, forty feet of ice would float, and stay upright besides. The waves were gentle.

"What do I owe her anyway?"

"I guess I should walk home and finish sweeping the yard."

Yang walked north.


	45. Girls of Valour

**Girls of Valour**

Blake closed her door and locked it. Neo followed her up the steps and through the building's double doors, where Blake studied the building map on the wall. Neo studied the students rushing by. She was supposed to be a bodyguard. So she guarded. She'd done it plenty of times before, most recently with Roman. Never failed a charge yet. Although once or twice she'd had qualified successes.

Like, for instance, with Roman. She'd succeeded in not letting anyone else harm him...

"Second floor." The foyer had stairs, which Blake took. Then a left, another left, and they entered a very quiet hall. Gulistan's door was solid wood, with a plaque and a sheet for office hours. The door was closed. The next one listed was tomorrow.

Blake turned back to Neo. "All of my choices were available today. Why Gulistan?"

Neo fitted her stuffed-finger glove on her right hand before typing. Probably a good habit to wear it in public. Gulistan would be a trial run. ɪ ᴛʀᴜsᴛ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴋ.

"Her?"

Neo knocked on the door. There was a rustle before it opened. Pulling the door in was a hand reaching across a desk, knocking a few papers to join the rest on the floor.

"Hello? Who is it?" Gulistan was a small woman - large to Neo - in her forties, with curly pink hair in a pink suit with a checkered white and grey jacket. Frankly, she looked great.

"Hello, Professor." Blake stepped into the office, which would barely have room for a chair on either side of the desk if there _hadn't_ been any papers around. "Call me Belle."

"Sorry, Belle," droned Gulistan. "My office hours are on my door. If you'll excuse me..."

"We're not students," answered Blake, crowding in so that Neo could step past the threshold. "We're here because the fate of Mistral is at stake and you can help."

Gulistan exhaled, blowing a stray hair curl off of her forehead. "Whoever sent you, you can tell them you managed to bother me and go along with your day, and I won't have to get security involved."

Blake shot Neo a skeptical look. Neo held up her scroll. ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ɪ ʙᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ ɪғ ɪ ᴀsᴋᴇᴅ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ sᴜɴᴅᴀʏ ᴏғ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ? ɪ ʜᴇᴀʀ ʜᴀʙɪᴛs ᴀʀᴇ ʙᴀᴅ.

Gulistan blanched. Blake glared.

"Excuse us for a moment," said Blake, shoving Neo out the door and closing it. They were still alone in the hallway. "What does she do on sundays?" She hissed.

ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴅ. ʙᴜʏs ᴅʀᴜɢs, ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴜsᴇ ɪᴛ.

"Is this why you chose her? Because she's compromised? What if someone else tries to blackmail her?"

ɪғ sʜᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘs ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ ɢᴇᴛs ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴏʏᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ sʜᴇ's ᴏɴ. Blake was making this a lot more complicated than it needed to be, but then, she was the academic type. There were only two factions that mattered. Cinder, and humanity.

"What if... ugh, never mind." Blake opened the door and sat down in the chair. Neo maneuvered herself behind and somehow shut the door. Gulistan, to her credit, remained composed.

"What do you want?" The professor asked, eyes moving between the two.

"Lita, play the recording."

"Who's watching those camera feeds?" Came the voice of Cinder Fall.

Gulistan took a moment to understand what she was hearing, but once she did, she listened very carefully. Blake stayed silent until the recording was done. "That's the voice of the woman who masterminded the Vytal attack. We think she wants an encore. And the Mistral armed forces aren't in a position to stop it."

"So you want an army."

"I want mobilization. When the grimm came to Vale, they were on us before we knew what had happened. If grimm run over the northwestern border forts, humanity needs a front on the farmland, before they reach the city. I have some men in waiting, and Lita will be joining them, but we'll need reinforcements. The scale is too large for me and mine."

"Who are your men?"

Blake responded before Neo could finish typing her vague threat. "The white fang, as of last month. And if you like the city's current crime rate I wouldn't recommend jeopardizing that. We're both on the same side here."

"So you're the leader of the white fang..."

"New leader," interrupted Blake. "And new associate."

"The new leader of the white fang, and you're using the white fang to defend Mistral from a terrorist who blackmailed a General into mismanaging our northwestern border forts." When she put it that way, it almost sounded silly.

"I don't know what Cinder Fall's end goal is," said Blake, "but everyone in Mistral stands to lose from it."

ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴇᴅ, ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴇᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴏʀɢᴀɴɪᴢᴇʀ, added Neo.

"Right." Blake pointed to the scroll. "You come recommended. We want you to see about mobilizing the Mistral Corps. The attack will likely be this month, likely at night. Cinder will notice anything obvious. You'll have to be covert."

ᴛᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴜs ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴏʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍ, reminded Neo. ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ ʜᴀs ɴᴏ ᴀʟʟɪᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇʀs ɴᴏ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ.

Neo caught Blake's eye. "No need to worry, Lita. She has nothing on us in the first place." Good. Blake seemed smart. She liked books. Fiction, but still.

"I'll make some inquiries," said Gulistan.

Neo showed Blake her scroll, which read ᴡᴏʀᴋ ғɪʀsᴛ.

"Well, get some trusted huntsmen on call first. And don't be obvious about it. Cinder can force people to... as you heard."

"Yes." She drew the word out. "I know a thing or two about discretion. If Mistral needs us, it will have huntsmen."

Blake stood and shook the professor's hand. "I'll call you if I need to, but I doubt your call to action will come from your scroll."

The ride home was silent. Blake took a roundabout route to watch for tails, but Neo didn't spot any. As they pulled into the base garage level, the woman blurted out, "I miss my family."

"Do you miss your family?" She continued before Neo could type. "No, you don't. You wouldn't. You have too much going on."

Neo showed Blake her scroll after she parked. ɪ ᴍɪss ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ.

Blake nodded. "I miss Adam. Not how he was at the end. When times were good, they were great."

Neo looked at her five-fingered glove. ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ ʜᴀᴅ sᴜᴄʜ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀssɪᴏɴ. _Has._

"Adam never did. Stay vigilant, Lita. I half expect a coup every time I leave."

Neo followed Blake into the base. She could kill Pirin tomorrow. Nobody would know.


	46. Here

**Here**

"What we find when we move this will be unlike anything you've seen before." Uncle Qrow hung the cane on his belt and took a drink from his flask. "And if we find our way to the fair city, double it. But that won't be easy."

Ren bent down to inspect the metal slab. It might have been a wall, once. The base's armored outer wall. What was he looking for? "We did not make this journey because it was easy."

"Good." Qrow took another swig, thought for a moment, and spit onto the thawing snow. "We'll need to move this or hack through it. Would anybody like to do the honors?"

Something had placed a piece of metal twenty five feet to a side and nearly a foot thick above the way down. What had that kind of strength? Was one side bent up because of how it was moved? Crescent wouldn't even be able to dent it. She should fix it. A new alloy, maybe. Diamond blade? No, too brittle, no point in taking that risk even if aura would mostly cover it up. Maybe a backup tungsten alloy blade of some kind? With a mechanism to...

The fair folk, Qrow said. Their city was underground, or they could get to it underground. The origin of grimm. They had a lot to answer for.

Why had they done it?

"How big is the underground?" asked Jaune, surveying the ring of long-ruined rubble stretching hundreds of feet around them.

"Big, but that doesn't matter. We want the east wing. All the way east."

Nubu walked over to where the bend left a gap over the ground and lay down underneath it. "Please be ready." Her voice was a bit muffled.

Ruby circled around to look. Nubu was laying on her back, hands stretched up to press on the metal. She was biting her lip and sweating. "Nubu, maybe we should cut through"

With a groan and a crunch of disturbed snow, the slab began to lift. In a moment it was past Nubu's reach, so she lay her hands down at her sides and watched, body sinking inches into the ground as the metal pivoted on its opposite edge and swung upright, revealing a hole ten feet wide leading straight downwards.

 _Action and reaction. Her aura shouldered that weight._ Nubu's skin had gotten pale.

The heads from four king taijitu popped out.

"Well now, that was fast." Qrow drew Reaper.

Ruby unfurled Crescent. One head lunged for Nubu, now nearly embedded in the ground. The girl took the bite with an ineffectual spasm, the taijitu gouging furrows in the ground around her and tossing her dozens of feet in the air.

Ruby took off after Nubu's trajectory, barely managing to catch her as she landed. Behind her, Ruby heard Jaune's shout of "Everybody back!" followed by a resounding crash. She turned, grunting at Nubu's unexpected weight, to see the slab settling back into place. Next to it a taijitu head, severed when the slab fell, was beginning to dissolve.

Ruby bent to the side, touching Nubu's feet to the ground. "Thank you, Miss Rose," she said between gasps, standing. Even spent as she was, the girl looked sheepish for needing help. Almost like she didn't understand what teams were for. It was so simple, if only the girl let herself accept it. Nubu needed a Yang to comfort her. To teach her how to be comforted. Or just a better leader.

Ruby tried to lead, the best she could, but how good was she? Was she even a leader at all? Jaune was the head of Ren's team, his old team, his real team, and the one with Nubu's sister. And Qrow was leading them all. And before Qrow, Nubu had joined a team led by Neo. Joined because of Neo, even.

Neo. She'd tried _so hard_ for Ruby.

"So, what now?" asked Ren after Ruby and Nubu walked back. Nubu glanced at the slab, now pressed even further into the ground from the impact, and her face fell.

"Hold on, Ren," ordered Jaune. "Before we continue, I just want to pause for a second and appreciate how amazing it was the Nubu was able to lift this thing. It must be, what, a couple tons? And her semblance... she feels it, on the other end."

Ruby nodded. "That's true, but we need a way in. Uncle Qrow, can Reaper cut through it?"

"I'm sorry," said Nubu, studying the snow by her feet.

"Hey, you did great." Jaune clasped her sweaty hand in his own. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Nubu. You've done your part, now we'll find another way. Or we can rest up and open it tomorrow."

Nubu looked at Jaune's hands around hers and caught her breath. "I will succeed this time."

"I..." began Jaune.

"We'll make sure nothing eats you," said Qrow. He hadn't put Reaper away.

So Nubu wedged herself in the crack underneath, slowed her breathing, and tried again. She avoided the spot with her old indentation.

She didn't bother to place her hands on it. She lay still, straight as a board, and stared at the metal above her. Then she ground her teeth and glared. Ruby stood beside her and readied Crescent, the others — Ruby couldn't think of a good team name with a Q — next to her, doing the same.

All was still, at first. Then there was a grinding sound, loud, drowning out Nubu's scream. The metal swung upwards and toppled over backwards, revealing the passage.

One taijitu reared up. Uncle Qrow leapt forward and killed it with a swing.

"Is that it?" asked Ruby, still, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"The other taijitu were crushed earlier," answered Ren, helping free Nubu from her foot-deep Nubu-shaped hole. The girl was pale and sweating, but smiling. The emotion was rare on her face. In fact, Ruby couldn't remember seeing her smile.

Almost as one, they stepped closer to the entrance. A shaft with no lights. Pieces of a ladder clung to one side, taunting anyone that tried to descend without preparation.

"In we go?" asked Jaune.

"I'll lead." Qrow leapt in.

In a moment he was beyond view, and ten seconds later, everyone's scrolls vibrated with ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ sᴀғᴇ, ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ. Ruby came next, firing down to slow her descent. Then Ren, jumping from wall to wall, and finally Nubu with Jaune in her arms, using her semblance against the metal walls and floor.

The shaft bottomed out in a square room the same size, and the ladder at the bottom was intact, just to rub it in. There was a doorway with a missing door into a room lined with lockers, most of which were missing their fronts or at least dented. Everything was metal, and all of it scuffed and dark in the dim light. Ruby didn't see any furniture.

Ruby turned her scroll's torch mode on and stuck it on the front of her belt. Soon the group had decent visibility between them.

"Ground rules. Scrolls on silent, keep them in wave mode. Stay close to each other. We regroup and leave in an hour, no matter what we're in the middle of." Qrow turned to survey the group, and Ruby held her hand up to shield her eyes from his scroll's torch beam. "And do anything I say without question."

"What if you tell us to stay for more than an hour, Mr. Branwen?" asked Nubu, her skin sallow in the light.

"Then what you're hearing speak isn't me," the man answered. "Any other questions? No? Then let's move."


	47. Slipping

**Slipping**

Neo flicked the monitor through the cameras watching Diamond's Edge and its neighbor forts. They were terrible quality, their small form factor being so important. It wouldn't help anybody for the army to catch wind of the white fang surveilling them. Well, it would help Cinder.

She reached the feeds from the cameras placed around Diamond Inn, the wayhouse on the other side of the ridge. These were also grainy because, although Neo's outpost was in an abandoned farmhouse close to the ridge, the signal had to be bounced through a signal tower behind her, closer to the city proper.

She saw nothing. Odds were feeds wouldn't help anyway. The call to action would probably come one of two ways: Either in a very obvious wave of grimm and death cresting the hill, or in a call from the man Shell had placed as an informant in the wayhouse over the ridge. His call would get them... maybe three or four minutes of advanced warning before the aforementioned wave.

But still, there was nothing _else_ here to do. Alba's elite white fang force stationed with Neo weren't great for conversation, and she was too antsy to read her current book: _Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Mantle._ It just seemed to on the nose. Although not as bad as her current level in Grim Defense. _Mistral Massacre_. What did that leave? Thinking?

Neo rose and did a kata, careful not to damage the room. Old farmhouses were rather delicate. When she started to sweat, she sat back down. Nothing on Diamond Inn West. Neo pressed the button to change view to Diamond Inn North. It was a bright, cloudless day, perfect for visibility.

There was a rumbling in the distance. Widening her eyes, Neo flicked through the rest of the views. Nothing looked wrong. Neo got up, opened the door and walked out onto the farmhouse porch.

The city, down in the gorge, wasn't burning. But something past it was. Columns of smoke rose from from past the city.

 _The border forts_. Neo was in the exact wrong spot.

sᴇ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ ɴᴏᴡ, sent Neo. They'd been had. The attack came from the opposite of the place the general had moved the troops from. Either Cinder had known Neo was listening and put on the whole play to fool her...

...Or she'd just been trying to fool the general. For how few people should be in Fort Diamond's Edge right now, there was a lot of hardware. Hardware that's hard to move.

ᴏᴍᴡ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ, Blake sent back. Neo walked upstairs, where the door to Alba's team's room stood closed. She slammed a fist through it, broke it in two, then held her scroll up with the message ᴅᴏᴡɴsᴛᴀɪʀs ɴᴏᴡ ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴠɪɴɢ. One learned to get creative with sound when mute.

The group gathered their weapons and made it to the porch in time for a bullhead to crash-land on the front lawn. "Get in!" shouted Blake from inside. Neo and the team jumped on and the white fang leader took off again, flying towards the city. The house car apparently wasn't fast enough.

"The attack has no humans," Blake explained as she flew. "Grimm I haven't seen before. Shell is leading the first line of defense. I don't suppose you'd like a promotion."

Neo glanced at the others. The other white fang seemed unamused with their leader joking about her second-in-command's death, but they weren't about to raise a fuss now. Everyone could see there was work to do, and this group had been selected as loyal.

Besides, if they left now, there wouldn't be anything to go back to.

They made good time over the city. Blake was on the phone with some Mistral councilman, telling him not to fire on any faunus. Neo surfed her scroll over to some newscasts, which told her nothing, but Alba's squad behind her huddled close and she felt awkward turning them back off. One clip showed a creep running through a street, a little girl in its mouth. They repeated that footage a lot. It was an odd feeling. Didn't Alba have her own scroll?

In another ten minutes, the battleground was visible. Six forts had exploded somehow, with grimm streaming in over the miles-long gap in the city's defenses. The farmland was teeming with every type of grimm, tens of thousands, for miles inward. There they met the defensive line, with soldiers on either end extending a perimeter down from the closest functional forts, and a smattering of white fang and huntsmen holding in the center. Two things struck Neo.

The first was the wall of green in the center of the defensive line, plants sticking out from the mostly flat farmland. It must have been nearly a mile long. As Neo watched, a goliath charged too close, only to be engulfed by vines wrapping around it and pulling it into a cocoon.

The second was that it wasn't working. The white fang and huntsmen tried to cover the entire attack front, but grimm were slipping through, a lot of them. The soldiers held the sides with a compact formation studded with armor, leaving the less disciplined groups to cover the majority of the ground. There were others soldiers closer to the city, taking potshots at the escaping grimm, but not many.

Blake took the bullhead in for a landing behind the green line, which was a mess of grass, grains, and vines at least ten feet thick. As she dropped below 100 feet, Shell appeared in the window, both eyes blazing with green fire. She was held aloft by her cape of woven vines, which had sprouted and grown, lifting her up. As Blake brought the ship down, the vines supporting the woman shrank with it until her feet touched the ground outside the windshield.

Blake opened the door to her. The woman looked drained. "Is this wall your doing?"

"Yes, Blake." Shell saluted. "I'm past my limits. Please don't ask for more." Did she always know Blake's name? Did it matter any more?

"Shell, I could kiss you. And I just secured qualified amnesty for all white fang that fight with me, so I guess you win _that_ bet. Can you move your wall a third of a mile north?"

"It might be painful." Shell looked up as a nevermore swooped in at the bullhead. Vines from the wall reached out and pulled the creature to the ground, where Alba beheaded it with her claymore. Some white fang were less useless than others.

Especially Shell. What were those green eyes? What _was_ she?

"Then don't bother," Blake told her. "Lita, you're with me. We're leaking grimm in the north. Alba! Take your team south of the green, and pull the line there back. They need to move to level ground. And remember, this isn't a sprint."

Blake started walking. Neo fell in behind. "This will be a marathon."


	48. Sink or Swim

**Sink or Swim**

Sleeping was a mistake. One of many. Walking north until her ice started free floating, then continuing to walk, that was another one.

Ice didn't hold its form when Yang slept, and she didn't much feel like drowning in the middle of the ocean in the middle of the night, so she made a sphere. As large as she could. She kept ten feet in the center hollowed out, with a flat floor, and when she lay down she could feel it melting. It wouldn't keep its form long enough for her to sleep.

So Yang pressed as hard as she could, and the ice crunched and compacted. And she put more ice around that, and compacted that too. And when she'd made the ice as large and as dense as she could, she decided that it wouldn't melt through in a night. Sleep was the latest in a series of mistakes making up Yang's last three months of life, although hardly worse than stranding herself at sea in the first place. Or inviting Pilo into her house. Or listening to her.

 _Or trying to save Blake,_ said Yang's dreams.

Yang awoke to near-total blackness. She placed her stump on her icy floor, connecting her mind and aura to her craft. She couldn't manipulate it like an arm, but she could gauge its dimensions. It was thirty feet wide, with ten foot thick walls around her ten foot room, and touching water on every surface. It felt heavy. Pressed in.

 _Ice can sink?_

The only light was a faint redness glowing through one edge of her sphere. Her _submarine_. At first it was constant, then it blinked off for a second. Thirty more seconds of glow, and another short blink. It seemed to be nearing her. Or she was nearing it. It was enormous, fifty or sixty feet wide. At its edges, through ten feet of compacted ice, Yang could make up a darker red surface. Maybe just red from reflected light. Maybe white in normal light. Bone white.

As it blinked again, Yang realized that it was _actually_ blinking because it was _actually_ an eye. The eye of a grimm big enough to have eyes larger than goliaths.

 _Up I go._ If ice got her into this mess it could get her back out. She melted the outermost edges of her sphere. One foot gone. Three feet. She felt, more than heard, a crack. Yang knew enough about the ocean to know about water pressure.

"Never mind!" Yang would have time later to decide where this landed on her scale of deadly mistakes, unless it turned out to actually be deadly. Instead of getting rid of heavy ice, she could add light ice. She froze water where the old ice had been, not compacting it this time. Then she kept on freezing. The more she could cake onto the craft, she faster she would rise away from the grimm she'd accidentally started a staring contest with. She was already rising. Yang froze more on, and more. Fifty feet around. Sixty.

She shot up into blackness, and let herself exhale. She'd be safely stranded at the surface in a minute or three. Then Yang could figure out a way to land. At least she wasn't in danger of dehydration. She willed a few cubes of ice from the wall, distilled them and had a drink. The salt dust fell at her feet.

And then light. Yang hit the surface. It was morning already, and the weather was calm.

And she saw debris. In her haste to graft ice to the side of her sphere, Yang had accidentally frozen something in. She placed her stump on the wall and unfroze the sphere from the outside, letting cold water slosh off of her craft. Finally, she saw the object frozen in was a body. Sitting cross-legged, with dead skin. She kept melting until all she had was a platform on the water, thick enough to not tip over. The body, suspended in ice above, fell to the ice beside her.

And it uncrossed its legs and stood up. Yang shouted and fell down. Was it — was she — not dead?

"Greetings," the woman spoke. She wasn't a corpse, just pale. She was Yang's height, with long, straight white hair, and could apparently meditate at the bottom of the ocean or encased in ice. She wore a white kimono, which like her skin was clean and flawless. "Who, pray tell, has sent you?"

"Huh?" asked Yang. The tides and ocean currents had sent her. She hadn't been looking for...

"Was it a tall man with brown eyes and gray hair wearing foolish glasses, or a distracted young woman who heard voices?"

It didn't seem like a time to start lying. "I met a woman named Pilo something. She told me to go north from my home in Patch." Somehow that didn't seem complete. "Patch is to the south."

The white woman closed her eyes, took a breath, and opened them again. "She did not tell you why you were to summon me."

"No." Yang reconstituted her her ice arm and climbed to her feet. "I don't know who you are or if I was supposed to meet you. I can't control where I move out here."

The woman looked around and her eyes widened. Like she'd just realized she was standing on a block of ice in the middle of the ocean. Like that hadn't been obvious.

"You are stranded."

She didn't say _we._ Yang watched her, hoping.

The water around Yang's iceberg stilled. It was still water, not ice, it just stopped moving mid-wave. The waves rocking the ice back and forth stopped. The wind quieted as well, leaving the pair in silence.

The woman closed her eyes, took a breath, and opened them. "I will walk you to shore. I am Tahki." She strode southeast, to the right of the sunrise, walking straight off of the ice and on top of the still water. Yang followed. She could always freeze the water if it became water again.

Yang had been through enough in the past week that this was hardly a tipping point. Sure, just follow the deep sea underwater sleeper across the surface of the sea, what could possibly go wrong? Looking carefully, she saw that water started moving about a hundred feet away. The range of Tahki's power wasn't even twice as long as Yang's. But she could keep things positioned absolutely, so they wouldn't be carried on the tides.

After a few minutes of walking, Tahki spoke. "Tell me everything of your meeting with Pilo."

Yang gave her a summary of a strange woman asking to be invited in, attacking her unprovoked with blazing yellow eyes, and taking her fire away. She slipped in her name a few times near the beginning, since Tahki had forgotten to ask.

Tahki listened and remained silent some time after Yang's story sputtered out.

"So," Yang tried. "What were you doing at the bottom of the ocean?"

Tahki closed her eyes, took a slow breath and opened them, which was quite impressive since she kept walking on uneven water the entire time. It was slippery, but not quite as slippery as Yang thought it should be. "I have been stilling the grimm leviathan."

"Is that something that... needs doing?"

"If the maiden of summer has sent you to me, it means I can be spared hence. She does nothing of consequence without cause and safeguard."

Yang shook her head. Tahki was in front of her, but somehow, it felt like she would know. "If you mean Pilo, I don't think that woman does anything with cause and safeguard."

"The maiden of summer is unique. Only one power of summer yokes the bearer. The other is held by a trust of souls, and it is within their rede that my confidence is placed."

Yang had no idea what Tahki's words meant, but she was the one who lived underwater, so Yang just kept following.

"How many years have befallen since the Vytal truce?" asked Tahki.

"Uh..." Suddenly, history lessons. Hopefully _this_ wasn't what Yang had been meant to learn. "Seventy nine years ago?"

"My time on the surface resonates still. And I have not been gone for so long as for the legends of maidens to have vanished from the world." Yang had a lot of recent experience with not knowing what people were talking about, but was Tahki saying she was at Vytal during the truce? She didn't look a day over thirty. It _would_ explain some of her language. And the legend of the maidens, that Yang had heard... "There are four mantles that pass through mortal hands. Mine, the mantle of winter, is least mercurial. It grants me soundness of mind, that I may devote myself amain to thankless tasks.

"The mantle of summer is the opposite. The trust of souls invariably drives the maiden to wood and ruin. I have never met the same summer maiden twice."

Yang was beginning to understand, and she didn't like it. "So Pilo is the summer maiden and she went nuts and told me to come to you, even though our meeting was a freak chance?"

"No," corrected the woman. The maiden. "Summer told you to come to me. Had the request been the maiden's own, you never would have succeeded." Tahki turned to Yang and smiled. She did seem to be talking more freely. Hadn't done the close her eyes and breathe thing for a bit.

Yang's stomach growled. She was starving. "Any idea how long until we reach the shore?"

Tahki looked at the horizon. "My proficiency lies in serenity, not expedition. You should eat."

Yang opened her pack for more of Pilo's food. "Do you want any?"

Tahki shook her head. "I have suspended my body in order to better effectuate my duties."

"So does that mean no drink too?"

Yang ate by herself, sitting cross-legged under the crest of a motionless wave, while Tahki told her about maidenhood, and grimm, and things she knew. Things that might be the reason she was awakened. She had so much to tell that she kept on speaking as they walked, until the sun was overhead and land was in sight.

"My duty does not compel me thereinto." There were buildings on the shore. They'd reached northwestern Vale. "Your semblance is enow to reach land. Although you have added to my incubus, I enjoyed the respite you offered me from my vigil. Fare you well, huntress." Yang's scroll gave a short vibration to indicate it had service, then a longer vibration nagging her to check it.

ɴᴇᴡ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ: sᴄʜɴᴇᴇ, ᴡᴇɪss.

Even with all of Tahki's information, Yang's mind raced. Either someone was playing a mean joke, or Beacon had been retaken and the CCT repaired... or Weiss was in Vale. The message was sent since Yang had last been in service range, two days ago on Patch.

"What _is_ that?" Tahki looked at Yang's scroll, perplexed.

 _She hasn't gotten out much this century._ "Are you _sure_ you don't want to come with me?"


	49. Come Undone

**Come Undone**

The sun went down, and Neo killed.

Creeps, ursas, whole packs of beowolves. Grimm have no souls, no aura. Iris moved through them like blood.

Neo looked up the mountainside as it cloaked itself in night. The packed masses of grimm looked just as large as they'd been when Neo arrived.

Neo blocked a boarbatusk charge, then closed Iris and stabbed it. She'd lost track of Blake over an hour ago. Around her fought scattered pockets of soldiers, huntsmen and even a few tactical police squads. The white fang, if any were still alive, weren't nearby.

Neo was killing on fumes. She still had aura, technically, although she'd lost almost all of it from those grimm with the whips. She was hungry and exhausted. Her movements were slow. Another death stalker would kill her. Hell, another of the whip grimm would kill her.

Neo stepped backwards. Spear an ursa, two more steps. Wound a diving griffin, start to sprint.

There would be evac somewhere. A second defensive line. Medical facilities. A safe zone.

To her surprise, Neo was nearly in the city. The front line had moved back two miles since she'd arrived. In another ten seconds, she left the innermost farmland and entered a residential district full of broken homes. All lights were off, but fire kept the street lit. Residents were dead or gone. She passed a manned artillery gun on a lawn.

The smell of smoke filled Neo's lungs. She wanted to run, but slowed to a walk. She just couldn't. Her legs wouldn't let her. Her mind. No part of her cooperated. From four kingdoms to three. Whatever Cinder wanted, she was going to get it.

Neo dragged her body through the streets. Grimm were rare as she reached an urban neighborhood, and there were now enough people to sustain a low-level panic. They moved this way and that. Nobody paid Neo any mind. She couldn't summon enough effort to want more.

Neo tripped on a curb and her aura broke.

 _I always assumed it would be a hit._ Dying to random grimm was so anticlimactic. Better a tale of intrigue and drama. Nishan's gang had given her a real run of it, two years back. And killed by Cinder had been a real possibility for a while. By Neo's estimation, this didn't count, unless Cinder would do her the favor of appearing before her and finishing things personally.

Neo dragged her body against a building and hugged her legs. People scurried past, in uniforms or without. Well, it was something to do while they waited to die. It's not wasted time if you enjoyed it, right? Neo yawned, and closed her eyes.

Blake said that Ruby left the city.

At least some things could turn out alright. Outer Mistral would have a rough time with the city gone, but they'd make do. Wherever it was that Ruby was going, it would be safer than here. It would have to be. Footsteps walked by.

Qrow, Jaune, Nubu, Ren. _Take good care_. She couldn't even think of a threat. _Care for her._

Neo had never been happy navigating her life. She'd left Roman for the first time at 13, but life only made sense when someone told her where to go. She'd dealt with most crime syndicates in the city - using at least one meaning of the world "dealt." Now Blake's white fang was massacred. And anyone staying in the city would follow. In the past, Neo had been good at helping her leader. The one that made use of her. _Nothing would have helped this._ Maybe if she'd had powers, like Shell.

But Neo didn't. She could glass, and kick, and stab. She was strong, as huntresses went, but hardly exceptional. Which, in this case, meant useless. Oh, she'd hurt some grimm, but what did it matter? Would Blake be happy with her?

Would Ruby?

The footsteps that approached her didn't leave this time.

"Hello, gorgeous."

Neo battled her eyelids open. It may have been an anthropomorphization of the lingering specter of death, but Roman Torchwick stood above her, looking just how he used to. Holding a gloved hand down for her like on that first night. Waiting for her to make the next step. To her surprise, Neo didn't want to die.

So Neo took his hand in her own, pulled herself up, and touched Roman's face. What in her soul did she care stayed private now? _Take me away, Roman. Away from here. Away from this._

Neo got flashes as Roman's semblance understood her. Vulnerability when she met Ruby for the first time. Betrayal, then calm, as Roman shot her hand. And anger. Anger when Ruby wouldn't listen. Anger when the white fang defied her. Anger and hurt as Ruby left. When Neo told the girl she loved her. Love.

"That complicates things," Roman said, summing up her life.

 _It will be simpler, now that you're here._

"Don't worry, my little ice cream cone. For you, this will be simple."

Roman kissed her on the forehead, and punched her in the jaw.


	50. Flames

**Flames**

Most of the east wing was smaller than the southern caves. Thinner. No room for nevermores, deathstalkers, or goliaths.

Qrow held Reaper up to guard and severed the head of the leaping cat grimm. A little larger than lions, but with stubbier legs. He hadn't seen them before.

Qrow decided to call them _Branwens._ It was only fair.

"Is that it?" asked Ruby, the bodies of some branwens smoking at her feet. On second thought, naming them branwens might not be a great idea. Qrow made a note to call them _Kasha._ Less personal. Almost as cool.

"That's it. Let's keep up the pace, we're getting close." Qrow hoped. They'd gone as far as he remembered going south on the first trip. Although to be fair, Qrow had a lot to remember from that trip, and measures of distance hadn't been his focus. They were 45 minutes in, but going had been slow.

The east doorway opened up to a natural cavern, with a worked stone floor but rough walls. The ceiling was too high for Qrow's light. Place was bad. Too big. And it seemed empty, which was always a bad sign. Plenty of room for the nasties in here.

Well, unless it _was_ empty. That would be fine. But what were the odds something would be fine now? Nonexistent. "Stay close." There would be a door on the other end. Or a portal. Or something. All the way east, Raven said. Something that explained the fort's destruction. Something the Mistral army dug up.

A way to the city. A way to the source.

They were well into the cavern when a series of squishing sounds accompanied grimm dropping from above, encircling Qrow and the children. These ones were bipedal, almost human shaped, but with long whiplike strands instead of arms. Their flesh, besides the bone masks and plating, was inky black. Blacker than grimm Qrow had seen before.

Anything Qrow said would be redundant. He swung Reaper, and behind him, the rest did what they were trained for.

There were at least six; Qrow didn't count. He charged the nearest. The whips were fast, and the attack profile was hard to dodge. After ducking one and sidestepping another, Qrow cut the tentacle on the third swing, but momentum still smacked it into his chest. He finally got into range and impaled the creature, cutting up to bisect its head. He'd caught the attention of another, so he lifted Reaper and kicked the body of the first one into its tentacle. The creature's other tentacle swept his foot as he charged, so Qrow aerial cartwheeled, firing a shot when he swung upside down. Landing upright, he stumbled as his leg gave out, but still managed to cut the grimm in two.

Qrow righted to see the children still fighting. He shot the creature constricting Jaune. He still had aura, but his foot was unsteady where the grimm had lashed it. He didn't feel any damage from the first hit.

Ren sliced through the creature's tentacles and kicked it back. Another one whipped Ruby in the back, flooring her.

"Qrow Branwen, look around and want to _stay_."

A voice he'd heard but once before. On the loudspeakers throughout the academy, throughout the city, and throughout the world, the night beacon fell. He'd learned her identity later, from Glynda.

Cinder Fall, maiden of autumn. Possessor of Inner Storm. Qrow's feet were stuck. They weighed a million pounds.

If Cinder was here, they were close.

If Cinder was here, they were all about to die.

It was now or never for Ruby's Argent awakening. Qrow kept firing at the remaining grimm. The room got brighter as a ball of fire appeared above them. Cinder, descending.

Finally, Ruby diced the last grimm. Qrow fired Reaper at the maiden. As one, the children did what they could to her as well. What they could do, it turned out, was nothing.

Cinder's ring of fire winked out as she approached the floor, out, her eyes remaining lit. She landed in the middle of the group, facing Qrow. "I'm told you've been quite the thorn in our sides."

Ren jumped towards her, striking her back with his palm. A burst of fire knocked him back thirty feet. She didn't turn around. Nubu swung her staff against the woman's back, then backed up and popped her spear point out. Cinder finally turned around to respond, but Nubu stayed light on her feet, staying just out of range and dodging the maiden's attacks while giving Jaune and Ruby openings. Qrow kept firing, careful not to hit Nubu if Cinder dodged.

But Cinder wasn't content to stand there defending. She fired jets of flame from her palms to corral the students, then rose into the air beyond their range. Ruby started firing at her, while Jaune blocked Cinder's fire with his shield. Nubu, realizing the futility of flying up and meeting her, retreated to where Ren was recovering and spun her staff to redirect the flames.

Ruby's eyes remained steadfastly normal, so Qrow had a choice.

The last time Ruby's eyes awakened, it had been from seeing the death of a friend. From being too late to help. Dare Qrow have her stay until the end of this fight?

What would stop Cinder from killing her first?

"Get to the surface, now!" he shouted over the sound of his own gunfire.

"But..." began Jaune.

If Ruby's eyes awakened now, nothing Qrow said would stop her. But if they waited five minutes for it, it would be too late. For all of them.

Qrow must have been going soft. He let the girl get to him. "No questions!"

Jaune grabbed Ruby by the arm and started running for the door. Nubu waited for Ren to join them, then backed up, still spinning her staff.

Cinder flew past them to the wall above the door, then started her descent. She would trap them in, and kill all five at her leisure.

So Qrow transformed Reaper into scythe form and lobbed it towards her. It spun through the air and the blade embedded itself in the rock behind Cinder, the handle pinning her to the wall.

She broke free in a second, after the others were through the door. Their footsteps faded.

Cinder floated over to him, holding Reaper. "Now, why would you go and do that?"

Qrow chuckled. "Oh, I like playing hard to get."

"But I've already got you, Qrow." _And because she chose me, the others will get away. You had the argent right in front of you and you wasted Inner Storm._

 _How arrogant._

"Gimme my scythe and let's make it a fight."

Cinder's turn to laugh. "I don't think you understand, Qrow. I'm going to ask you questions. You're going to answer them. And after I know everything I need to know, I will take care of your girl." She shoved him in the side. "Understand?"

The push was too much for his ankle, and Qrow toppled over. So he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.

Afterwards, he smiled and spit on her foot. Let cinder question him _now_.

She sighed and leaned down to him. "Qrow, you're a very stubborn man. What ever will I do with you? I want to keep you here, and all you can think to do is leave." Her eyes hardened.

"Qrow Branwen. Look, and see what you want to do."

"Be a bird, and fly away."

 **Words, Volume 4 - End**


	51. Remnant at Night (Words: Spiral)

**Words, Volume 5: Spiral**

 **Remnant at Night**

Eight Years Ago

Mari huddled under the broken umbrella. Her sobs were silent, and her tears fell into the stream of rainwater flowing through the alley. She left no trace. Like she wasn't even there. She should be so lucky.

The muck from the garbage was done dripping off of the umbrella, especially the side with just bare ribs. She shrunk tighter, into a ball. Her encyclopedia, taking the umbrella's place in the trash, had been ruined hours ago.

She couldn't be Mari anymore. Mari had blood on her hands. They'd know it was her. They'd _know_.

Mari had parents. She couldn't go back. Not to _them_ , not after Nero. And that's where the police would take her. No help from above. No help, she already knew, from below.

She'd gotten out of Nero's den. Out of that hell of fear and abuse. And she'd done it alone, except in the most technical sense. But she wasn't a leader. Not an explorer, not a trendsetter. She needed somebody to tell her what to do. Tell her how to escape. Outrun the doubt and the shame, and learn how to live.

Mari needed a friend. She'd gotten this far. Didn't she deserve one? Was just one too much to ask?

More than that, Mari needed a meal. The storm had lasted hours. At first she'd stayed put to keep her clothing and cuts dry, but the junk umbrella hadn't withstood the rain for long. Now she was too cold to move, too wet to stay. Not that she had a destination. Downtown properties watched for vagrants. Uptown was gang territory. She wouldn't make that mistake again. Best to stay here. Chilled to the bone, out of sight. The cut on her arm still hadn't scabbed over, probably due to the wet, although her arm had switched from bleeding to being numb. She welcomed it, despite the pain distracting from her stomach. The numbness went well with the exhaustion numbing her mind.

Mari needed someone, anyone. She wouldn't make it more than a block now anyway; no way to be picky even if she tried. She'd lost weight without any to lose. Nero had joked about the portions he'd given her. It was his final joke that had made up her mind. Telling her to clean her plate, she was eating for two. _Was the laughter worth it now, bastard?_

Someone was coming.

A man walked into the alley, and Mari rose, holding the useless umbrella by her side. She looked the man in the eyes and grit her teeth. He stopped when he saw her pop up from behind the garbage cans, sizing her up with one visible eye, from her colorful hair to the water cascading down her body. It was possible she was still crying. It didn't really matter.

Mari opened her mouth to speak. Nothing, as usual. She'd need to do better. The umbrella slipped from her grasp.

She ran up to the man, jumped, and threw her hands around his neck. The cigar slipped from the man's mouth, bouncing off of Mari's shoulder before falling in a puddle. She didn't even feel the heat. When she touched his neck, something changed.

Mari experienced flashes. Images, feelings. Fragments of her life. Mom, Dad. Nero. Hunger. The room. The news. Her words. Customers. The knife. They flew by her, and through her, in an order she didn't comprehend.

"And that," said the man, lifting Mari by her armpits and setting her down, "is why I wear gloves." The images stopped.

What had he done? When she touched him, he'd gone into her head somehow. She knew that he'd seen. Everything she'd felt, maybe even more. It had gone by so fast. An invasion. Her past. Her life. Everything she needed to forget. All Mari wanted to do now was escape, before the man made her remember again.

"Tell you what, chickadee. You're interesting, so I'll give you a hand. Brace yourself."

Mari wasn't sure what he meant, but she met his steady gaze and held her breath. She steadied her footing, too, to keep from collapsing. Her shivering was getting worse. He probably saw in her whirlwind of memory and feeling that she couldn't talk. Nobody was in sight.

 _You win. You have me. Do what you want. And if I'm alive at the end of it, I'll find out where you keep your knives too._

The man lay one gloved hand on her cheek and pressed his other to her chest. His body wreathed itself in orange. "I release your soul. Now let's go."

Mari fell backwards onto a pile of wet garbage. Everything went pink for a moment, then dimmed. She felt a crawling sensation on her right arm, like droplets dripping down, and saw her cut disappear. In its absence came flashes of pain. Beats. Fast, the pace of her heart. A strange power crept through her limbs.

A knot untied in her stomach, and Mari's eyelids drooped. Less hungry but more tired. With a helping hand from the man she rose, swaying on her feet. Whatever he'd done, releasing her soul, it made her stop shivering.

Probably past her bedtime anyway. The thought almost made Mari smile. Then her body shimmered all over and she was cold again, and tired, and hungrier than ever. Her feet fell out from under her, although the man kept her upright with a hand around her right wrist. Mari didn't have the energy to worry.

Despite the rain, the man placed a new cigar in his mouth with his free hand and lit it. "You're tired, so how about we make this quick.

"Where do mommy and daddy live?"


	52. Domain

**Domain**

One Month Ago

He would have to say yes. He would have to. _Have_ to. Competitive drive. It was one of his top five most reliable motivations. Well, top six for certain, depending on how much he really liked Brian Gintaras books. He'd been content to wait for publication rather than actually commissioning any, so far.

A small part of Weiss knew that the plan didn't place her in direct competition with her father. But he would view it just the same. She was challenging his institution, finding ways around his decrees. One didn't turn a profit for forty six of the past forty eight quarters by being lax about defiance. Of course there was risk, but she would have to commit to get what she wanted.

Which was home.

"Your father will see you now." Jocasta pointed to the office door, never looking up from her terminal. She'd grown more curt since Weiss's return, and Weiss wasn't sure why. Most likely reason was she resented the attention Weiss got from father. Weiss had three possible reasons for _that_ , none of them good. But it could also be that Jocasta resented her for the high volume of Weiss-related paperwork, or that her father was gossiping about Weiss's problems to the secretary. After those three possibilities, the odds dropped dramatically.

Father was, of course, staring at papers when Weiss entered. It was his most popular activity, followed by staring at his computer screen, then staring at a book. The remaining time, which was well under ten percent, he would simply watch her as she settled into his office chair. That meant she'd done something really bad. He'd only watched her sit down once since Beacon.

"What is your request?" father asked.

She would need to phrase things just right. It would do no good to satisfy his competitive drive only to run up against one of his four—or five, she'd have to figure that out later—higher motivations. "You have requested that I stay in Atlas until graduation."

"I have," he answered, his deep baritone moving straight through her.

"Very well. I would like to submit myself for graduation." It was rather risky. She was skirting the line on motivation two, and even three. But she was giving him an out for his second. She wasn't threatening his control, simply optimizing within his framework.

She couldn't help running afoul of his third motivation. If Weiss being headstrong reminded the man of her mother, then Weiss would have to accept that she wouldn't satisfy that desire, whatever it was. She was still deciding between _not mentioning Gisa Schnee_ or _forgetting Gisa Schnee._ Either way, the woman had picked many an argument with him in her time.

Her father regarded her, expressionless, across his desk. "You believe yourself a huntress at age eighteen."

 _Tread lightly._ "I believe myself to have met degree requirements." The written would be easy. Trivial. She could've passed it a decade ago. The only question was the practical. But damn it, if she could use glyphs to even half of their potential, even just the ones she knew well...

Father nodded. "I will arrange the date and time. You will have your trial."

Weiss didn't like the glint in his eye when he spoke. He _was_ treating it as a challenge, and he meant to beat her. Ironwood would see to her safety, or at least, to her life. But past that, what father planned to do...

Most likely would be to beat her into submission. Second most likely was to give her a challenge above the normal testing level, but still possible. Third most likely, perhaps fifteen percent, would be a challenge in line with normal fourth year skills.

It all depended on how he viewed her challenge conflicting with his primary motivation: the advancement and legacy of the Schnee Dust Company. Was she better off staying subservient, or was her independence a trait to foster?

She would find out soon enough.

* * *

Weiss had expected quiet. A smaller affair. Father would want to stamp down her rebellious streak, but not damage her future prospects.

"Ladies and gentleman," came a voice over the speakers, acoustics warping and muffling it here in the stadium's center. "Weiss Schnee." Weiss curtsied.

She had been off by two standard deviations. Father wasn't up in the stands with just Ironwood. Weiss recognized a dozen SDC executives, with a whole wing of functionaries to their right, and various ranking politicians and business partners to their left. The seats weren't packed all the way around the ring, but there were still a hundred people watching. Over-under about one hundred and ten, and getting more accuracy would require counting the gap seats.

So it wasn't just a beating, but humiliation. Had father decided that it wouldn't harm her future prospects, or did he just not care? That didn't seem like him. The third possibility, that he'd made some sort of arrangement with Winter, was rapidly overtaking the second.

The gate was opening. Weiss raised myrtenaster, cycling the barrels. A familiar action, designed for comfort. She settled on ice. It was like her trademark.

Two death stalkers and a nevermore. All full grown.

 _Well, it's less than they give most teams of four._ Weiss ran through the possibilities. She could take two nevermore charges or feathers to her aura. Probably only one death stalker attack, claw or stinger. The death stalkers could control the ground, while the nevermore couldn't be fenced off, not in an arena smaller than Amity. It would barely have room to turn.

No, Weiss would want it to turn. She could win, she'd just need time to break in those death stalker's shells. To get it...

The nevermore flew in, and the death stalkers skittered forwards. Weiss placed some glyphs behind her and fired ice like a battery. One ball hit the nevermore's wing, tilting it off course. The death stalkers ignored the ice striking their shells, but that didn't matter as much. Weiss let those glyphs lapse and placed a propulsion glyph in front of the front stalker's claw, then another in front of that slightly tilted. Almost instantly she had an array of a dozen glyphs going in a semicircle.

The death stalker moved forward, and its claw struck the first glyph. That pushed it into the second, which turned it slightly. The claw curved around, tugging the stalker's limb, and its front exited the last glyph completely turned around, piercing one of its own eyes. It stopped, the one behind it crashing into its back.

 _This will be easy._ Seventy percent of her ice expended. She cycled to air and let the glyphs lapse. The nevermore had recovered and flew in for another run.

 _Wait for the attack..._ Weiss projected an aerial path, and sprung upwards through her glyphs as it swooped low. She shot straight past the grimm's head and grabbed onto a feather on its back, loosing wind from myrtenaster to match velocities.

Holding on with one arm, Weiss aimed myrtenaster at the front death stalker's broken eye. The nevermore continued the circle. _You can thank Ruby Rose for this one, dad. My first stop._ Hopefully the man had planned for the single-digit percent chance that she won.

Weiss ran the numbers, smiled, and cycled to red.


	53. Someone

**Someone**

Crescent rose spun in an elegant circle, and it—along with Ruby—carved a red streak through the beowolves. Behind her, she heard Ren and Nubu on her flanks, while Jaune fought the alpha. When she reached the end of the pack, Ruby fired a shot to stop, then fired again one revolution later to reverse. Surveying the field mid-rotation, trying not to get too nauseous, Ruby tracked the lines she could direct herself into. None would cover more than three beowolves. Her teammates were doing well. She picked one and fired again, propelling herself through what remainders she could, leaving a smear of blood and petals on the thawing snow.

Within seconds, the forest was still, save the four hunters catching their breath. Then snow fell from a branch, smacking the forest floor like a gunshot. Ruby jumped at the sound, then laughed.

"All right, guys. And girl. Let's try that hilltop for camp." Ruby pointed to her right. Jaune nodded and started forward. When your enemies could sense your soul, there was no disadvantage to high ground.

The hilltop had one tree, and Ruby approached in its shadow. Aura didn't protect eyes from sunlight, even setting sunlight. There was probably a study on that somewhere, but Ruby didn't need the why, just her hood.

Jaune walked around the tree, surveying the forest. "Good visibility."

Ruby looked around herself. There was more and more variety in the view these days, from the endless white that had made the land so boring but kept spotting grimm so easy. So easy to keep her people protected. Ruby's eyes were drawn to a patch of bare ground, where the snow seemed to intrude at an odd angle.

She stepped forwards. A piece of white paper lay on the ground, its corner buried in snow. It was wet, but not soaked through. In fact, one corner looked pristine.

The paper read, _walk another hour before you camp. Dangerous here._

Ruby picked up the paper. "Guys? There's a note here. Looks recent."

Ruby's team gathered around her.

"We're being watched," concluded Ren.

"What are the intentions of the writer?" asked Nubu. "Lure us somewhere?"

"We're still a day out from the last town," answered Ruby. "There's nothing that they could be drawing us to. It's just more forest. If they wanted to lure us into a trap, they could've just set up to ambush us when they came to leave the letter."

"Unless they needed to lay it somewhere else." Jaune was spinning in a slow circle, trying to watch every angle at once. "I mean, if this was left by someone trying to help us, what would they be warning us about? Something they can't say what it is? Why would heading south protect us?"

"I don't want to stay here," said Nubu. "I'm scared. I think about Mister Branwen, and I want to get back sooner."

"We'll leave." Jaune was staring down the hill. "But we'll have to be smart."

"Let's not go south," suggested Ruby. "Cut southeast for a bit. We'll try to get back on path in the morning."

"We do not have the rations to stay out here any longer than we must." Ren, the voice of reason. _Path_ overstated it, but if they walked past the settlements Qrow had brought them through on their way north, Ruby didn't know if they'd find any life at all.

"I like it." Jaune started off the hill, swinging to the southeast. "One hour. Set the scroll."

Ren took off behind him, eyes on the screen of the scroll they were using. Ruby turned to Nubu, looking her up and down. Her posture was subdued, like how Ruby felt at dances.

"Thanks." That wasn't right. It wasn't a... It was a thing of sorrow. "I mean, thanks for being attached to Qrow. And thanks for grieving. Maybe you should."

"Ma'am?" asked the taller girl.

"I'm the leader now. I have to get us back safe." Ruby watched the boys descend the hill. "But maybe when we're back safe in Mistral, I can afford to miss him. Then I'll need you to protect me." She flashed Nubu a smile. "Don't worry. You won't have to lead us. I'm sure..."

Neo would be in Mistral. So would Blake. So would Sun and Neptune and all of Haven. Someone would know what to do. Someone would be able to lead.

But Ruby couldn't think like that now.

"...I'm sure we'll figure something out."

Nubu bowed. "Yes, Miss Rose."

Ruby reached her arm out and patted Nubu on the back. Then she turned towards the boys at the bottom of the hill. "Let's march."

Jaune could lead. To some extent, he was leading now, although he seemed to agree with Ruby's decisions. The man respected uncle Qrow, but she didn't know much beyond that. Maybe after Pyrrha he'd been content to let people happen around him rather than get involved. It didn't seem like a great way to live, but his attitude towards Nubu and Qrow bore it out.

And Neo. _Especially_ Neo.

Oh, Neo hadn't lived up to his expectations all right. But Neo hadn't been the one who failed to defeat Cinder with her magical superpowered eyes. _Argent._ It had worked once. Get to the surface. No questions. Qrow hadn't been mad, just... realistic.

Ruby smiled as she joined the boys. Someone was looking out for them. That was how she decided to see it. Because if they were walking into a trap, it was one they would never have avoided. And what use was it worrying about that?


	54. Keep on Breathing

**Keep on Breathing  
**

"You are giving me no end of trouble."

Neo awoke to Roman's voice. She didn't know where she was. She'd stayed awake, mostly, when he'd dragged her inside a dark storefront and up some stairs. Stayed passive and watched, for as long as she could. She'd been moved since, since she didn't recognize this room's ugly orange wallpaper or threadbare furniture. Her pockets had been emptied. She'd urinated, long enough ago that she was dry but smelly. She was hungry, a little, and thirsty a lot.

"First, you go and betray me while I'm working for a woman who could kill us both with an eyelash. Then I meet you again and you've gone off my prescription. You're not happy, Neo. And I have a pretty objective viewpoint on this, so trust me when I say that when you're sad, I'm sad."

Neo remembered his lessons. Don't risk squatting if you can rent or buy. He must have bought this place, because where can you rent a room with rings on the wall to chain shackles?

Typical Roman. He'd never cuffed her before, but it still seemed like him somehow. Neo sat up from her bed and tried to sit dangling her legs off the mattress, but the chain from the wall was too short for her to rest her hands in her lap. She decided to scoot back and sit cross-legged against the wall instead.

"What, nothing to say? And don't make me read you. You're the one that got into this mess, I don't want to join you there."

Mess. White fang, police, military, decimated. Was Neo even in Mistral any more? Cinder, undoubtedly angry. Blake... dead? The underworld, wherever she was, would not be kind. Still no word from Ruby, alive or dead, although how would she get it in here?

Neo looked around the room. Besides her bed and Roman's chair, there wasn't anything. A few other rings were set into the walls, and even some in the floor and ceiling, none with anything threaded through them. An open metal doorway on the concrete wall to her right that she couldn't see out of. An inset light in the room's center. A bag under Roman's chair.

"Fine. I man can dream." Roman pulled something out of his jacket pocket and tossed it across the room for Neo to catch. It was a scroll. Smaller than her normal, and older. The back identified it as the YTG 250, the first scroll Roman had ever bought her.

 _He does care._

She clicked past a ɴᴇᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴄᴀʀᴅ ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅ warning to type. ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ. ᴡʜʏ ᴀᴍ ɪ ᴄʜᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʟʟ?

"There is the minor issue of our last encounter resulting in my falling a mile to my death. Well, supposed death. It did let me evade various other deaths, but seeing as those were also caused by you I don't think that's exactly gold star-worthy."

Gold stars. How long had it been? A lifetime ago. She'd had nineteen. First time joining Roman on a deal, first weapon built, first assist, first theft, first kill. Even cooking, cleaning, standing guard. She'd gone far in two years.

He'd just had one star left when she abandoned him. First word. Was that what he'd been asking earlier? "Nothing to say?" Had he honestly expected her to speak to him? Was it because of something he'd seen in her?

Neo turned her scroll around and looked. The words ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ stared back at her. She read over them a few times.

"Hello Roman," Neo couldn't say.

Instead she typed, ɪ'ᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ. ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴀғʀᴀɪᴅ.

It hadn't stopped. Grimm, white fang, such things didn't scare Neo. Cinder, perhaps a little.

Trying to lead Ruby Rose and her friends was terrifying. Almost as bad as being alone. Roman had never offered her a gold star for independence. If Roman was here...

Things would have to work out, right? This time?

Neo looked at her hand. The scar tissue wasn't as bright as it had been, but it wouldn't ever fit in with her skin. Thumb and index. Enough to type on a keypad. Enough to turn knobs, to balance swings, to hold things, sometimes with aura assistance. But aura can't grow fingers.

"Well, Neo, you went and screwed up everything without me, although I'm impressed it took you this long. You had a good run there for a couple of years. Then Cinder hires me, Cinder hires you, you go full rocky road, and before anybody knows it you're homeless, friendless, and dying alone on the streets. Seems to happen to you a lot."

Roman was wrong, of course. Neo wasn't friendless. She had him.

"Well, don't worry any more, Neo. I'm back. We're a team again. So just tell me one thing. Out of everything you can get, _we_ can get... what is it you want?"

Limiting his request to things that could happen hurt. It meant no Ruby Rose; the girl herself had made that clear. No killing. If Ruby's mission with her uncle didn't stop the grimm invasion, stopping Cinder was out of the realm of possibility too. Neo could occupy a day reading, but it wasn't her goal, her desire.

ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ, ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ.

Roman read the scroll and smiled. "Things aren't how they used to be, and maybe you picked a little bit of a fight with an omnipotent being, but I'm a survivor. We'll find a way out." He grabbed the bag under his chair and threw over. Neo opened it. Clothing, a can of soda, and some candy bars. "Eat up and get changed. You smell terrible. I'd crack a window, but..."

Roman rose and walked through the doorway and Neo heard some clinking metal. "If you can't tell by not being dead," came his voice, "that faunus saved the city." Then the door slammed closed and locked.


	55. We Sound Amazed

**We Sound Amazed**

"You should..." She paused. "Turn on your semblance, and touch it. You should be able to channel it, to direct its energy."

Yang didn't have to turn her semblance on. She could always feel it, just past her right shoulder. But touching the blue-gray crystal with her left hand, her flesh-and-blood hand, didn't seem to add anything to the energy at her disposal.

"Sorry, Weiss, I don't feel it."

"Well, I don't really know how to explain it." The heiress frowned. "Maybe ice dust is the wrong fit. Drawing moisture from the air works on a whole different axis, so the dust can't combine. Try another." Weiss lifted the top from another box, revealing a red crystal of similar size sitting on in a velvet-lined inset.

Yang didn't see how fire would work better. After all, fire dust didn't pull anything from the air either, so her semblance was just as different. But maybe the overlap in element was messing her up somehow, so she took a deep breath and lay her left hand on the crystal. Yang's fire returned.

Oh, it wasn't the same. It swirled in from her palm rather than up from her core. But the fire... It had always been synonymous with power. Yang smiled. Dust, she didn't know. But she could mix her old semblance with her new. She forced the power down her right arm.

Which promptly caught fire, and after a few seconds, melted.

"Well." Weiss looked down at the half-crystal remaining. "That was dramatic. Very like you." She wobbled as the transport started to slow.

"It felt right, but I guess they don't mix." Yang began to reconstitute her arm. "Maybe if I practice I can keep it together for longer." Practice might be challenging.

"Well, dust isn't about feeling. It's about discipline and control." Weiss shut the crystal's container. "Practicing will do you good."

Yang wanted to say that Weiss had changed, but she was who she was. Discipline and control. Not exactly Yang's speed. But Yang's speed didn't fare so well when confronted with the real world. Sometimes people had to change. Sometimes those people weren't Weiss.

The intercom crackled. "Executor Schnee, landing clearances have been granted. We're approaching the city."

"Well." Weiss composed herself. "Daddy did his part. Time to make him proud." She marched from the hold.

Yang looked around the tiny space, then threw the fire dust box into her bag. The crystal was already half gone, so it's not like they'd be able to sell it. Her arm was fully grown.

She found Weiss in the bridge, sitting in the copilot's chair, speaking into a headset plugged into the ship's controls. The ship was flying at a steady clip, rising to the ridge at the edge of Mistral Gorge. "What about the normal military? ... How many border forts? ... Why won't they negotiate with you? ... All of them?"

Yang leaned in close to Weiss. The voice on the other end was speaking. Male, deep, probably older. "They're formed from the white fang. One hundred percent faunus."

"I'll see what I can do," Weiss replied. "They have a reason not to like us, but if they've been incorporated, they'll need to follow some standards of impartiality. But I'll need something in exchange, director. Do you have any information on the whereabouts of Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, or Lie Ren?"

"I'll check the records for the rest..." Yang heard was typing through the headset. "Blake Belladonna is the White Fang Belle. She's in Mistral General South with the Green Goddess."

"White Fang Belle?" asked Weiss. Green Goddess? wondered Yang.

The ship crested the ridge, giving the huntresses a view of the city.

Mistral was fat in the center, a huge urban grid that supported millions. To the north and south, it snaked into smaller and smaller buildings as the level bottom of the gorge thinned. The border forts nearby were primed and ready, with soldiers and vehicles swarming this way and that. Yang could barely see the far ridge, but it was distinct just the same. She reached over Weiss, frozen in shock, and dialed for magnification.

A section of the southeastern ridge was green. Not the green of farmland, but the green of a thick, lush, old-growth forest. The green started in a line at the ridge, it must have been miles wide, and went down in a wedge towards the city. From this distance, the edges of the forest looked perfectly straight.

The wedge extended into the city, trees growing over buildings, through them in some cases. It came to a point on the top of a building thirty or forty stories tall, which was green from top to bottom.

"That's where we'll find her," whispered Yang. "Home of the Green Goddess." There was no other explanation. Growth, the external power of the maiden of spring.

Weiss unfroze herself. "Director, I'm looking at the city. what am I seeing?"

"The trees were placed by the Green Goddess to stop the grimm," the man said. Grimm invasion. He must have told Weiss. "Grimm can't pass through it. And because the Green Goddess is a faunus, some insect type, the white fang have been stirring the pot over it. Even after they've been granted amnesty and deputized. They've practically taken over the hospital to guard her. No gratitude."

This was more power than a maiden should have. Maybe over time, a long time, but to stop charging grimm? What did he mean that grimm couldn't pass? Did Yang fundamentally misunderstand Tahki's lessons on the power of maidens?

Was Cinder this powerful, too?

Yang yanked the headset cord and spoke. "How is the Green Goddess now?"

The man's voice now came from the bridge speakers. "Who is-"

"Answer her, regional director," ordered Weiss.

There was a grumble on the other end of the line. "From what the faunus say, she still hasn't woken up."

"And we need them," prompted Weiss. Bringing Yang up to speed.

"The real military, what's left of it, is hung up on reinforcing the borders," the director said. "They've left the faunus people to direct military escorts and grimm patrols."

"I'll make a deal." Weiss was in her element. Giving orders and hating people. "I'll see to it your petitions stop getting lost. But you are absolutely forbidden from dealing with them yourself."

"Executor Schnee, please think better of me than to assume I speak to anyone like that."

Weiss exhaled. "That will be enough, director." She terminated the call.

"So that's your new boss?" asked Yang. A real charmer, that one.

"Not... technically," Weiss turned from Yang back to the window. "My freedom of movement comes with certain responsibilities. I am to advocate company interests and ensure that branches run smoothly, at least until I quit." She pointed to the pilot. "You didn't hear that."

"No, ma'am," the pilot answered, staring straight ahead. She was a good woman. Yang would have to get Weiss to promote her or something.

"Good." Weiss turned back to Yang. "What's wrong? The specifics of my employment can't possibly be affecting you that much."

Oh. Yang realized she wasn't happy. "I don't know. We know where Blake is, I just... Ruby left with juniper heading to Mistral. She asked if I would come. Tried to cheer me up, I guess, but at the time I wasn't ready to hear it."

Yang exhaled. "I just figured, we were coming in, I was hours from seeing her again. I let myself believe it would be that easy. Now it turns out that it's not and we found Blake. And don't get me wrong, it's great that we found Blake." Yang set her mouth into a line. "I just don't know how that conversation is going to go."

Weiss looked out at the city. "She promised me she'd come to us. To her team."

"Yeah." Yang spit out the word. "I guess she found a new team."

"I'm sure it's not like that, Yang." Weiss threw an arm around Yang's shoulders and turned her to face into the ship. "Come on. Seeing you with that water bottle got me thinking. Do you think you can move ice if I make it from dust?"

Yang took a halting step with her. Weiss glared and poked her in the stomach. "This isn't you. Either you let me distract you with my perfectly reasonable request or you deal with it some other way. Worry about Ruby, resent Blake. But stop moping, Yang Xiao Long."

"Yes, Your Supreme Executive Schneeness."

What did it mean if Maidens had that much power?

How far would Cinder go to destroy? Or whoever was pulling her strings?

Yang put on a smile and followed Weiss back to storage.


	56. Stronger Love

**Stronger Love**

Jaune lay back and relaxed.

True relaxation was a rarity. There were just so many steps. He was alone. He was in a bed, for the first time in over a week. It wasn't too cold, or too hot. The whole inn was silent. The whole tiny town. It was like it was holding its breath, even as the last of the snow melted. Even the mysterious note-leaving stranger said they could stay in town for the night.

Jaune closed his eyes. The door opened.

 _What now? It can't be my watch already._ Jaune opened his eyes and prepared to scold Ren, but found Nubu flipping the lights and closing the door behind her. _Right. Should remember this inn isn't big enough for locks._ The room was barely a matchbox and she practically had to get into bed with him to close the door. Why was Nubu here? The girls got the larger room they could afford, so they could sleep uninterrupted.

"Hello, Master..." Nubu paused. "Jaune." Her arms were stiff at her sides, hands making fists and balling up her skirt. She normally wore pants under that skirt. She was dressed for bed too. Jaune tried not to stare at her calves.

"Hello, Nubu." Jaune sat up, and looked deliberately at her face. He only had five hours before his guard shift. At least he could stay inside. Sitting in a chair in a hallway was a lot better than on a log buried in snow. "What's on your mind?" _And not that I'm complaining, but why am I not Master Arc any more?_

"Jaune." She looked on the verge of saying more, but her mouth just hung open. She reached under her right pauldron and undid a buckle, then her left. Her twisting around gave Jaune a view of her midriff, an area Pyrrha bared freely.

It was when she started running down the buckles at her sides that Jaune caught on. "Nubu, what are you taking off your armor for?"

"Jaune." Her tongue stumbled over the name. "You're the perfect man for me."

"Wait, Nubu."

She removed her breastplate, placing it on the floor, then started work on her gambeson. Her curves were far more defined than Jaune had ever seen them. "She wrote about you. It took me time to see."

"Nubu, stop." Jaune got out of bed. Thanks to the size of the room, he now stood right next to her. He could look down on her short blonde hair, the polar opposite of Pyrrha's, how did he never notice that cowlick in the middle? Her skirt was longer, and armored. Her body was so strong, but she wasn't, she needed...

Nubu yanked her gambeson off in one swift motion, revealing a bra constructed of lace and imagination. She can't have been wearing this trekking through the snowy wilderness, right? Did she pack it? Did she buy it somewhere in this tiny town? Dust save them all, could it be Ruby's?

It couldn't be. It fit Nubu _far_ too well. Jaune's high angle was doing him no favors. Or, well, it was. He blushed and looked away, but had to turn back. He had to see her face. She was grim, determined, her jaw set. Keeping her composure, but fighting a fight.

She placed two hands on her skirt, above the flared metal overlay to the waistband. Jaune grabbed her arms with his own. "Nubu, I don't want this."

"You..." Jaune studied her face but his gaze kept slipping down to her chest. So he just focused on her eyes. Wide in shock, then narrowing in sadness. "Jaune, Pyrrha is dead."

"I _know_ , Nubu." Back to her eyes. Oops. Why couldn't she make this easier?

"So why can't..." Nubu had a point she was struggling to explain. "I've spent a lot of time following her. Following everywhere. And I'm... close to as good."

"You're not her, Nubu. You're yourself." Dust, Jaune couldn't even string a sentence together. She's herself? His hands were tingling where he held Nubu's arms. Should he let go? What if she keeps undressing? Should he sit down on the bed? What if she takes it as an invitation? Should he throw her out into the hall? With nothing on her chest but filigree and hope?

Jaune snapped his arms to his sides. Hopefully she wouldn't undress, even if a growing part of him wouldn't mind the sight. A few inches shorter, a few years younger, different hair, gold into bronze...

"I know I can't be her, Jaune. But I can be good enough. Passable.." Her hands found her skirt's fasteners. "I'll try twice as hard, you'll see."

In desperation, Jaune hugged the girl, pinning her arms still. Somehow it made things worse. His arms and front tingled, especially his lower chest. He could feel her breath, and her heartbeat.

"You don't have to try, Nubu. You've done amazing things. And you'll do plenty more. You don't have to save the world all at once. Just save us." His grip tightened. "Save yourself. From doing something you'll regret."

"I want this," Nubu told Jaune's chin.

"Pyrrha might want this. Me. Wanted." Tenses weren't where he wanted his mind to be, but it was better than pressing alternatives. "You've spent so long trying to want what other people want." Jaune was trying his hardest not to give her what she wanted. "You just need to be Nubukha Nikos, and see where that takes you."

Nubu pressed her face against Jaune's shirt. "How?"

Jaune opened his mouth to speak. No words came out. What could he say?

He tried again, but still produced no sound. Neither did Nubu. Or his breath. Or his heartbeat.

Jaune was deaf. He pulled away from Nubu and asked her what was happening, producing silence. She looked as confused as him mouthed some words, pointing to her ear. This wasn't Nubu's semblance. It was something else. Jaune shook his head. He didn't know. Oops, eyes on face.

Was Jaune doing it? _Semblances are a reflection of personality and desire. I guess it would make sense that I kill the sound when I don't know what to say._

Active semblances were supposed to be... A hunter could feel them when used. Jaune didn't feel like he was doing anything. Did that just come with experience?

Was it a passive semblance? Could he not turn it off?

Somebody threw the room's door open, knocking Nubu onto the bed. A man holding a scimitar stood in the hallway, tall, dressed in furs. He pointed at Nubu and stepped into the room. Behind him, Jaune saw a woman, similarly dressed.

Nubu rolled onto her back and pointed as he brought his sword down in an overhand chop. He flew backwards into the woman, both of which slammed against the hallway wall. The bed collapsed under Nubu from the force of her semblance. The weapon shot from the man's hand.

Jaune grabbed his sword and shield from the end table and stepped into the doorway. He saw the man dislodge his scimitar from the wall, but no sooner had he pointed it at Jaune than it popped out of his hand again. The woman, behind him, wrestled to keep her axe facing forward.

Jaune advanced, but he must have passed through Nubu's firing line because he lost his grip on his sword. It flew into the woman and ricocheted off of her aura, landing flat on the wall.

Nubu shoved him out the door and to the left. She was moving into the hallway herself, braced like she was walking into heavy winds. Jaune stumbled towards the man, now unarmed, and bashed him with his shield. The man reeled, but stayed standing. Jaune hit him again.

Jaune heard his third hit, and his breathing, and his heartbeat, and a grunt from the man under the shield. Then Ren and Ruby rounded the hallway corner, Ren with an unconscious fur-clad man on his back. Ruby dashed through the hall in a blur and struck both Jaune and Nubu's opponents down.

"Bounty hunters," said Nubu, standing over their bodies. "We should get rope. Leave tonight."

"Uh, Nubu," asked Ruby. "Where's your shirt?"

"It's in..." Nubu pointed into Jaune's room. Ruby looked inside, saw her armor and the collapsed bed, and turned back to Nubu and Jaune. Nubu went pale and rushed down the hall into room she shared with Ruby. Jaune felt his own face begin to burn.

"You know," said Ruby, "I'm just going to go pack my stuff." She followed Nubu into their room. "...But why are bounty hunters after us?"

Ren went downstairs, for help or restraints. Jaune should pack his own things. But he should also speak to Nubu. Console her. Even if anybody else would be better, Ren with his quiet wisdom or Ruby with her... womanly knowledge. No, somehow these things landed on Jaune's plate.

No matter how much he wanted to get some privacy and relax.


	57. Everyone in the World is Doing Something

**Everyone in the World is Doing Something**

No matter how much Atlesian huntresses might use it as a diversionary measure, Yang _wasn't_ obsessed with food. She enjoyed it, certainly. But she was controlled, and never binged. Even their fearless leader didn't let a meal get in the way of an objective.

Which was why Weiss found it so puzzling that Yang pulled onto the sidewalk in front of an ice cream shop. "We're still a mile away from the hospital, Yang. Is there engine trouble?"

Yang flipped down the kickstand and pointed. "I swear I just saw Roman Torchwick turn down that alley."

"Excellent," Weiss agreed. "Now we'll have another fight to pick when the authorities think we've been too peaceful. Can we get going?"

"I want to follow him." Yang flexed her left arm, and her right followed its lead somehow. She was wearing a glove and long sleeve on it, which met under her bracer, to avoid the stares they'd been getting at the landing pad. Her net stares were down maybe sixty percent. Weiss's attention was up twenty percent in the same timeframe. Even in Mistral, her face was known.

Yang was proving hard to pin down. She was mostly her old self, with a noticeable minority of unconfidence and a sliver of hard edge Weiss couldn't place. Was this a way of avoiding Blake? "You said Ruby came here tracking Cinder. So let's find her, get Blake, and join our forces before we interrupt _their_ plan with"

"Come _on_ , Weiss!" Yang jumped off the bike and took a few steps. "He's getting away."

Weiss sighed. It _was_ good for Yang to show initiative. "I'm too high-profile for a chase. Get a location and keep in touch."

Yang waved, and was gone.

Weiss rose and stretched. One mile out, no clue how to drive a motorcycle, and she had an appointment to keep.

* * *

Hospitals in Atlas sat in high-traffic downtown areas. Didn't make much sense, now that Weiss thought about it. Better to place hospitals in places where more people are and more vehicles aren't.

Not that this part of Mistral was purely residential. Far from it. The area around the hospital itself were a textbook snapshot of urban decay, with pawn shops, liquor stores, and bodegas on every other block. The rooms on the second and third stories would be apartments.

Weiss stood in a rusty playground looking up at Mistral General South, by far the tallest building in the neighborhood. Wreathed in greenery from bottom to top, this was where the white fang-cum-Mistral Discretionary Corps placed their unofficial headquarters. The location of Weiss's meeting with Colonel Amblik. And, hopefully, the location of Blake Belladonna.

After some consideration, Weiss's desire for a relatively low profile outweighed her punctual nature, meaning she was four minutes late going in. She hadn't gotten a location within the hospital from regional director Vuk, so the front door was the best bet. _Head towards the largest concentration of hostility and see what happens._ She crossed the street.

The front door was dark, due to the shade from the building. The front lobby was darker, with roots growing through half the ceiling lights as well as crossing back and forth across the tiled floor. It was like the entire building was an animal den. Yang said that the green goddess was some kind of mythical maiden. Mythical, Weiss could believe. Seemed like the uneven floor would cause some logistical problems with wheelchairs and gurneys. Might be why the room had guards but no receptionists or nurses. Weiss would investigate the buildings to the east, when she got out alive. They looked similarly green from above.

Stepping into the lobby brought Weiss attention. At least half of the guards were faunus; the rest didn't have obvious physical traits, but that didn't mean much. A few wore military paraphernalia but odds were they were off-duty. All wore some form of purple. A tall man with a lion's mane stepped into Weiss's path.

"Visiting?" he asked. A man wearing silvered sunglasses walked up behind him and whispered in his ear. Most likely telling him Weiss's identity. She should have come in snow pea. Would that have even helped?

"Yes. I'm here to visit." Nothing for it but to play her hand. She just had to meet the colonel and work out a deal using the concessions she'd been authorized. Myrtenaster was tucked away in her backpack, a compromise between safety and hostility. The backpack covered her insignia, a compromise between anonymity and pride.

The man's courses of action would be to bar her entry, to attack her, or to bring her where she wanted. The odds of each would change if she was recognized, but she wasn't sure how, or even where they started. This situation was unprecedented in Weiss's experience.

"Schnee." He looked her up and down. Mostly down, due to the height difference. "This isn't your land."

 _If he grabs me, he pummels my aura out in four to six hits. I can glyph his hand, but I may miss. Best to duck, fire him in the air, jump back and reassess. It will take four motions to get myrtenaster into my hand. The odds of doing so under fire are slim. I'd need to leave the room to do so, by which point I'm better off disengaging. Fighting the white fang is counterproductive._

The man may have meant more by _your land._ Not just a reference to Atlas, but to the reach of the SDC - and her own personal power. If so, and the curling of his lip increased the probability, going by the book would gain Weiss nothing. Lead to increased resistance, if anything, and Weiss didn't want to resort to a fallback plan. Most of them had gotten much worse when Yang abandoned her.

"I'm here to see my friend and teammate, Blake Belladonna. Is she here?" Politeness and misdirection; Weiss had a lot of practice from Atlas. Blake wasn't an officer, but Weiss had gotten the impression she had sway. Also, it seemed unlikely Blake would attempt to kill her.

The man stepped back to confer with another. Weiss turned at the sound of movement behind her to see two women standing between her and the door.

 _Door is problematic for quick exit anyway. I was planning on the plate glass window._

Finally, the maned man sent his partner up some stairs, then gestured around the room. The rest of the guards, eight in all, locked their eyes on Weiss. Several took steps forward, but the ones near doors stayed at their posts.

Weiss raised her hands. It's not like it changed her defense profile in the slightest, and it might calm some of them down. "I'm just here to see a friend."

A hand was around her right wrist, and Weiss heard a blast of air as it made room for her attacker. One of the women in front of the door. Fast. As fast as Weiss with _Haste._ Faster. "Let's get going, Schnee."

Either she was bringing Weiss to Blake, to Amblik, or somewhere else to beat or kill. The first two were fine. The third one would present a better opportunity for resistance when she wasn't in the center of a hostile crowd. "Lead the way, then." Oops. Her delivery may have been too confrontational. Or maybe the white fang respected backbone. They certainly had some, going from outlaws to the law.

The woman yanked her towards the stairwell, and a man took ahold of her left arm. Their grips were rough, solid. It seemed rather irregular to Weiss. The maned man was standing back and watching, and the messenger hadn't returned. How did they know where to take her? Weiss could only see one side of the woman's head, but she didn't have an earpiece in it. Weiss didn't like uncertainty.

They took the stairs up, thankfully. Then up a second floor, then a third. What had the trees done to the elevator shafts? On the sixth floor, the woman shouldered the door open and pulled Weiss past a nurse's station into a hallway.

Few of the lights here worked, thanks to the roots across both floor and ceiling. Trunks of wood cut through the walls and occasionally jutted through the hallway floor, but there weren't enough for it to be hard to navigate.

Every door on the floor was open and occupied. Men and women in white fang masks watched in silence, lit from behind, as Weiss was led past their doors. Weiss kept her face composed. If this was meant to intimidate her, she couldn't let them know how well it was working.

A man barely taller than Weiss left his door and stood in the middle of the hall. Weiss's guide stopped, and others around them took steps from their doorways into the hall. The woman pointed at him, then at Weiss. Whispers traveled the hall. Weiss ran down the list. The hallway had too many tree trunks to move through with any speed. She'd need to open with a glyph. No, multiple glyphs. Fire herself into the man's doorway and her guards into walls. Their grips would give out before her glyphs. And before her aura gave out and her arms got torn out. From there she'd need to dive through a window. There was a particularly thick root across the floor where she needed to move. If she accelerated using a glyph, she might trip, but that was an acceptable risk.

Then the challenger nodded and stepped beside Weiss. The others who had stepped into the hall stepped backwards, and Weiss could breathe again. Weiss's escorts, and the new man, walked her further down the hall.

At the end of a hall was a doorway so overgrown with roots its door was removed. Out of it walked Blake, looking incredibly blessedly _normal._ "Weiss! Come in." She gestured. The hands on Weiss's wrists let go, and her guards slunk back down the hall.

Weiss followed Blake into the hospital room. Inside were two beds, one of which had a sheet drawn around it. "I just heard. What brings you to Mistral?"

"Concern for my fragile teammates, run off and hidden without a hope." Maybe it was best that Yang wasn't here. Weiss being angry was just, well, Weiss as far as Blake was concerned. "Quite a display out there."

"Yeah, my people take it seriously." Was that a _my people_ as in people like me, or people I control? Blake had no standing in the Mistral army. Weiss had checked. "First just the ones whose homes were destroyed or overgrown, but now I have two or three hundred live-ins." Blake propped a large wooden board over the doorway. "I'm not stupid. I know they're not here for their belle."

Weiss approached the curtained bed and turned to Blake, who nodded. Weiss pulled the curtain back.

She was five foot six, toned, around thirty. She lay centered in the bed in a hospital gown, dirty blonde hair flared around her head in a circle. Her arms, covered in a brownish exoskeleton, lay at her sides. She had no IV or feeding tube. Only roots, growing into her body in a dozen different places.

"She never let on her power," said Blake from behind Weiss. "She was in the white fang for months. My second. I never even knew her name." Blake paused. "It's Sylvia. Sylvia Moriko."

"Will she wake up?" asked Weiss.

"The hospital just keeps growing," answered Blake. "She extended another root yesterday. At this point, it's a long shot."

Weiss closed the curtain. It was a lot to take in. "Blake. How are _you_ doing?"

"State your business."

Weiss turned. Blake sat down on the second bed. Avoiding personal conversations? Weiss had tried to make it non-confrontational. "That's an odd thing to be feeling."

"You came here for a reason, Weiss. Let's resolve it before you start yelling." Blake knew, or suspected, what was coming. But she was wrong about who it was coming from.

"Starting ten minutes ago, I'm supposed to speak to Colonel Amblik about..."

"Anything Lane can authorize, I can approve. Speak."

"SDC's been cut off. They want military escorts again."

"They?" Blake leaned back.

"We," Weiss admitted. "You're not the only one with a story to tell." She wasn't a Schnee-From-The-Schnee-Dust-Company Schnee, at least, not yet. Weiss kept her head above water with her father. And she _would_ remain heiress. She just... Weiss would be her mother's daughter, was all.

Blake gave a sarcastic smile. "And what are _you_ offering?"

"Assuming that the primary complaints revolve around the compensation and treatment of our laborers, and that this is _not_ a shakedown for bribes, I can grant five percent pay increase to our tiers one through three laborers as well as an independent workspace audit."

"Independent?" asked Blake.

"Accredited or government. You appoint."

"Make the raise eternal and I'll see it done by tomorrow."

"I'm authorized for six month's back pay on current employees, and you can have it. But I can't guarantee the raise lasts longer than this grimm situation."

"Fifteen percent." Blake extended her hand.

"Uh..." Weiss shook it. "Done." It was all so fast! She wasn't even allowed to bring the raises past nine percent, but as executor, she could make decisions outside the normal chain of command. Blake, on the other hand, seemed entirely comfortable holding power in her hands. "What position is a belle, anyway?"

"The Adam Taurus's successor kind."

What?

Adam was the leader of the white fang, meaning...

Weiss frowned.

What?

So while Weiss had been sliding out from under her father's thumb, Blake had been controlling the white fang? How did... Where was Adam?

Weiss's scroll buzzed, which was just fine for her, because she didn't want to think about what Blake was saying any more. She opened it.

"Yang says I won't believe what she found."


	58. Sound of Settling

**Sound of Settling**

"Public action," prompted Roman.

Neo had to dig herself out of this hole. ᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴs.

"Roll it."

Neo gestured towards the dice, and Roman slid some across the game board to her reach. She rolled. One positive, three negative.

"Well, looks like your smear campaign caught the attention of some grimm. And they move on..." Roman rolled. "Onto one of your factories. That's just karma, you know."

She did.

Neo grabbed her hand of cards, kept facedown on the bed, and threw one onto the table. Huntsmen defenders. The process took more steps than she liked, since one of her hands couldn't easily hold cards.

"And the grimm is defeated! Draw and pass. Neo, maybe you should focus on profits and just try to cut me off before the PR lead carries me through the long game."

She passed back the dice and drew from the deck on her side of the table. Another huntsmen defenders. She'd try more PR next turn.

"My turn! Forty million off my production. Internal action, build a new factory. Public action, ad campaign." Dice. "Twenty five percent sales bonus. Another ten. Your turn, Neo."

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴄᴏʟᴀ sᴀɴ?

"Practically Mistral royalty. Owned the northern ports and theaters. You worked for her after you left me, right?"

sʜᴇ ғɪʀᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ sɪx ᴍᴏɴᴛʜs. ᴛʜᴇɴ ʙᴏss ᴄʜᴇss ᴡᴀs ʜɪʀɪɴɢ. 40 ᴍɪʟ.

Roman threw the colorful chips over to her. "I always did wonder what happened to her. Internal action?"

She slid one of the chips back over the table to him. ʙᴜʏ sʜɪᴘᴘɪɴɢ.

"But you already... Ooh. I like it." He tossed her the plastic bullhead to place with her others. "I'm sure you realize that this means war. How was Chess?"

ᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏғғ ʜᴀʟғ ᴀ ʏᴇᴀʀ. ᴘᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛᴇʀᴍs. ᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴘʀ. She slid the man two more chips, though she could barely reach the card table. ᴅᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ᴏʀ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ. Her wrists weren't hurting from all of the straining at the limit of her shackles, she had enough aura to manage. But she felt it every time it happened.

Neo rolled the dice. Plus two, minus two. Then again, plus four minus four.

"Well, you managed to not do further harm to yourself. Draw your card. I'm collecting 40 mil for my factories, since I can't transport goods from my newest. Internal action, layoffs. Do you think red will win?"

At first Neo thought game night was one of Roman's tests. Nope. He just liked games. And hey, maybe he'd let her out of she won. Maybe not. Some things were easy to tell with Roman, but Neo hadn't been great at reading him recently.

sʜᴇ ᴄᴀɴ. ᴄᴀɴ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴅʀɪɴᴋ?

"Not near the board. Public action, espionage." He rolled. "One of your factories is disabled for two turns. Your move. Why were you thinking about Cola?"

Because Cola San locked Neo up for ten days before "firing" her on suspicion of spying. It had been her lieutenant Ironmark, but Cola hadn't given Neo paper or a scroll to explain. Cola hadn't found her very trustworthy even in the best of times. To be fair, Neo had been an experiment. Nobody else had wanted enforcers so young.

ᴄᴏʟᴀ ᴏᴡɴᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴄᴏʀᴘᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.

"You're suggesting I shouldn't have just fired my men?" Roman slid her production money across the table. "Cinder kept some old contacts here in Mistral. She's collecting information on police and military. A lot going on these days. A lot of holes. So we have your huntress and the green goddess... And grimm and the real goddess."

ɪɴᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. ʀᴇᴏʀɢ. Neo put down three cards from her hand and drew three more. sʜᴇ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴍʏ ʜᴜɴᴛʀᴇss. sʜᴇ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀ ʜᴜɴᴛʀᴇss. She was... well. Roman was right about these things. ᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ. sᴛᴏᴄᴋ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜ. She slid over 60 million lien, then drew another card. It would be another few buys until she could head his board.

"I hope this means you've given up on your idiotic desire to be loved." Roman took the money. "But you can't go for a takeover when you don't beat me in net profit. Shipping is open again. I'll corner that market while it's ripe."

Roman was always right about these things. Why had she attacked him? What was she thinking? The world had never accepted or wanted her. Why would Jaune and Ren and Nora? Why would Ruby? Roman knew who she was. He had to. It was his semblance. Touching him touched his heart. If the only person that accepted you was the one that understood your soul, was that a blight on the world, or you?

Neo tossed Roman a card. Board injunction.

"Fine. PR boost."

Roman did love to be adored. Neo played a second board injunction.

"Oh, for crying out..." Roman pointed at her, still out of her reach. "This... is not sporting. Take your thirty two million, I'll have it back with your head in ten minutes."

Neo smiled. Behind Roman, a woman walked through the door. Yang. The sister. Looking much the same as last time Neo had seen her, with a more conservative top, a single long sleeve, and less even hair.

Neo had protected Roman from her before. How could she now?

And why was the room so cold?


	59. Ill Flower

**Ill Flower**

1134 Chestnut Lane. Appropriate street name.

Well, maybe not. Yang didn't know her botany, but none of the trees growing out of the blue house looked like chestnut. No nuts had fallen onto the lawn, at least.

No house on the block had lights in the windows, despite the shade cast by the canopy. And the only car on the block had a tree trunk growing through it. Oak, maybe?

The tops of the trees on ground level sat thirty or forty feet up, while the ones growing out of roofs went higher. The ones lower down would naturally wither from lack of sunlight. Although, these trees hadn't exactly been grown by natural processes. Maybe Spring's Growth would sustain them indefinitely.

Enough. Torchwick hadn't reappeared. Yang approached the house and tried the front door, which was locked. She could give the lock a taste of Ember Celica, but if she was trying to be stealthy...

She could text Weiss, too. But Torchwick could still be moving. He could be planning.

Yang circled the house. A back window was warped from a trunk distorting the wall next to it, and the glass had mostly shattered and fallen to the ground. Yang froze some ice onto the remaining shards around the rim and climbed through.

The house was quiet, and felt fairly intact. Family of three, based on the photos on the wall. Nothing in the house was drawing electricity. She did a quick circuit of the floor. If Torchwick was upstairs, he'd be sleeping, and that could wait. Yang flicked on a light. The house _had_ electricity, but someone was keeping the place hidden. Even the wall clocks had been unplugged.

Basement, then. The steps down were behind an unlocked door. The understory was made of rough cement, and emptied out into a hallway. A door on either side, another at the end, and a light on in the middle.

The door to the left was open, and more light shined through the doorway. Yang padded over and listened to Roman Torchwick's voice from within. She hadn't heard it much. Just once on the news, once when she'd scrapped his mech and he ran away with that Neo woman, and when he got captured by Ironwood, after Yang had nearly been killed by that same woman. Torchwick was talking about layoffs, intel, and Cinder Fall.

"A lot going on these days. A lot of holes. So we have your huntress, and the green goddess, and grimm, and the real goddess." _Your huntress?_ The real goddess would have to be Cinder. Who was someone's huntress? Was Haven compromised?

Torchwick stopped speaking. Yang heard multiple quiet noises. Paper moving. Something sliding across a table. Something light, dropping from a distance. Yang got out her scroll. No signal. Torchwick was talking about... love?

"You can't go for a takeover when you don't beat me in net profit. Shipping is open again. I'll corner that market while it's ripe." He could only speaking to somebody. Stayed in the basement for anonymity, used a radio or a signal-boosted scroll for communication, and probably wore headphones to reduce his chance of being overheard. Some other criminal head. Torchwick had focused on dust in Vale. Was his goal in Mistral the shipping?

Weiss and the SDC were having trouble with their shipping. The old white fang was denying them protection. Torchwick had worked with the white fang in the past.

"This is _not_ sporting. Take your thirty two million, I'll have it back with your head in ten minutes."

Torchwick was planning to kill. He'd done it before. He _was_ killing a criminal...

Yang would simply have to capture him, then capture them. Easy. She opened her bottles of water, stepped into the room, and became very confused.

Torchwick had his back to the door. He was sitting, staring angrily at a board game sitting on a card table, opposite the mute woman Neo. She was sitting on a bed that could charitably described as three rectangles of metal at right angles with a blanket on the top one, she was dressed in a loose-looking heather grey sweatpants and sweatshirt set, and her wrists were chained to the room's back wall. And she was smiling.

 _What did I just get myself into?_

Then Neo saw her. The woman's eyes bugged out of her head, and she tried to point, but the length of her chain didn't let her extend her arm towards the door. She slid off the bed and tried to stand, but doing so bent her arms back and pinned her waist to the side of the bed.

It just made Torchwick look at her. "What's wrong, rum raisin?"

Neo reached for the scroll next to her on the bed. Yang pointed the water bottles in her hands and squeezed twin streams out at the man's feet.

Yang didn't _create_ ice, she condensed moisture in the air _into_ ice. So when she placed a bunch of moisture in the air all at once, right where she needed the ice to form, she wasn't quite as slow.

"Sorry about the cold feet, Torchwick." Wait, that wasn't what she was supposed to say. Ah well, too late now. Can't freeze a man's feet to the floor twice, they tend to see it coming. Yang opened Ember Celica.

"Should I recognize your voice?" asked Torchwick, craning his neck. "Oh! Yellow. I didn't know you were..."

Yang punched with her left arm, and Torchwick bent over backwards and caught her wrist inches from his face. So she fired Ember Celica. He pushed her arm away, so she pulled it back and chambered it. He somehow kept his grip, tearing his feet out of her ice, and turned to face her. She'd need larger water bottles next time.

Yang kicked him in the crotch, and when he groaned, she pulled up her fire from crystal in her pocket and punched him square in the jaw. The fireball consumed her arm instantly and knocked him to the ground, with her right gauntlet and glove falling on top of him. Her right sleeve hung limp past her stump, but at least the water from her arm melting had kept it from catching fire. She began to grow her arm back. It was second nature.

Torchwick didn't move. On the back wall, Neo did. She glared at Yang. No, she just hated Yang. She'd turned hate into a weapon and fired it through her eyes.

Keep it vague. "I don't know what he's been doing to you, but rest assured you'll both see whatever justice you deserve, so sit tight for a bit." Yang grabbed Torchwick's body. She'd have to secure him before he woke up.

Then Neo jumped for her. Her chain snapped taut and she spun around her wrists in a very undignified, and likely nausea-inducing, way.

Then she flew off of her chain somehow and her body slammed into Yang, who barely had time to brace. For... glass? Neo shattered on Yang's torso, revealing the real Neo, still attached to the wall, lifting and turning her bed. She turned it sideways and slid it across the floor in an arc, scooping Torchwick's body away from Yang and to the back wall. The little criminal dragged the bed back to her, Torchwick coming with it. Then she dragged it flush with the wall, keeping it sideways, and hunkered down in her three-sided metal fort.

Had she been able to take Torchwick out at any time with that bed? _Wait, bigger problem._ Did Torchwick have her key?

"Move that bed," Yang shouted. Shouting seemed right when dealing with Neo. First, Yang froze the ring connecting her chain to the wall. Then she started trickling ice on down, link by link, until the chain left her sight. "Freezing you solid will take time, but you're not going anywhere."

Yang got another six inches down the chain before Neo's hands raised, bound and empty. Her right hand was missing fingers, which Yang didn't recall from their fight. She peeked her head above the table and shook it. The gesture seemed... honest.

Yang melted the ice, so Neo kicked the bed away into the room's center. Then she pointed, as best she could, to her scroll on the floor across the room. It had been flung away at some point in the scuffle.

Yang walked over to it. "You busted it pretty bad." She turned back. "Now I'll be taking Torchwick."

Neo was kneeling on the ground in front of Torchwick's body, with her arms stuck above her, preventing her from sitting. Her face glared a challenge at Yang. It said, you have me, now what are you prepared to do?

She looked so vulnerable like that. Arms stuck straight up, unable to sit, unwilling to stand. The clothing sagging off of her wasn't just due to size, she'd been losing weight. Bags under her eyes. Hair unkempt, unwashed. Placing as much of her tiny body as she could between justice and her captor. _She tried to kill me last year._ What was Yang prepared to do to her?

"I just need to know he didn't have keys or something." Neo couldn't even reach her hands down to his pockets. "I won't hurt him. I'll keep him in the room and everything." Yang wished she'd read a book or two on psychology. What on earth was going on in Neo's mind? Was this a regular occurrence for her? Was this how she and Roman...

Torchwick slid across the floor. "Thank you." Neo's gaze flicked between the huntress and the unconscious criminal, deadly serious, like showing emotion would interrupt her concentration. Yang dragged Torchwick to the opposite wall, by the door, and got out her scroll. She'd need to head upstairs to get a signal.

ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ.


	60. Innervoice

**Innervoice**

"Master Arc," Nubu whispered to Jaune. "Perhaps I should go through separately."

"A bit late for that, Nubu," he muttered back. "Why?"

"In training, yes," Ms. Rose was telling the guards. "From Vale. Beacon."

"I'm wanted," she whispered back. The others hadn't done anything wrong.

"You worry too much." Jaune smiled his perfect smile. _I know what you meant, Pyrrha. I understand now._ Nubu's cheeks reddened. She'd done everything wrong. Nobody had ever _taught_ her this! Jaune...

"Lie Ren, Jaune Arc, and Yang Xiao Long," Ms. Rose pointed at each of them in turn. "My uncle brought us out here for education after Beacon closed, but he got lost." Ruby wasn't a very good liar, as far as Nubu could tell. Which wasn't far. Maybe they would think she was sad about the things that saddened her.

The guard wasn't looking at Ms. Rose. He was looking at them. At Nubu herself. Thinking. Evaluating.

Why not give herself up? She hadn't been helpful, not in any ways that mattered. She was a liability. She could go back to her parents willingly, and apologize, and maybe they would let her continue to attend school. Why _had_ she joined the group, no single adult among them, in an attempt to take down a massive criminal enterprise?

Because they needed Pyrrha. And without Pyrrha, Nubu would have to do what she could. It wasn't much, it never was much. And now all she could to help do was leave.

 _But I know them now. Ms. Rose, unstoppable. Master Ren, unflappable. And Jaune._ Pyrrha always did have a thing for blondes. Her letters hadn't needed to mention names. Nubu had recognized them all anyway, once she met them.

Then Jaune had told her, simply and clearly, that she was not his. Which was fine. That was his decision. He was a smart man, for Pyrrha to love him. Too smart to have feelings for Nubu.

Was the guard _still_ looking at Nubu? Did he know what Ms. Xiao Long looked like? Was he testing her?

It wasn't a risk Nubu could let the others take. "Sir..."

The man blinked. "Yes, Yang? Sorry, I was miles away."

Nubu opened her mouth, then closed it again. She should probably say _something_. "Nothing. Sir."

"Ah well. You guys go ahead then." He motioned through the gate, to the city beyond. Nubu found that she could breathe. It was... it was a surprise. The group walked out to the road. It was only a few miles to the city proper, and to further transport.

For all of the increased border security, the city didn't look different. At least, not that Nubu could see from this end of the city. Just as they left it. Greener to the far south. Winter was finished.

Life goes on.

"So," asked Ms. Rose. "What next?"

Jaune strode past her before turning around. "We need more information. We regroup, plan, and take it from there. We're still the best people for the job." His eyes slid towards Ms. Rose. Some of them were more the best people than others. "But first, we need to eat real food, rest, and charge our scrolls."

Ms. Rose nodded. Jaune turned back around and started down to the city. Nubu turned on her scroll. They were going to be near outlets soon, and maybe local news would explain the mobilization.

Base sabotage... Grimm invasion... White Fang... Goddess. Nubu's eyes saccaded down the headlines.

"They know Pyrrha's dead," she said.

"Others have come from Vale," said Master Ren. "Word has finally spread wide."

Nubu unzipped her backpack and felt around for the paper. Somewhat crumpled, even inside its own pocket. Nubukha Nikos, 20,000 Lien Reward for return unharmed. The increased reward made sense now. The money Father would use to pay for it, too. The Nikos lived on memories of past glory and hopes for the future, and some hope burns brighter than others.

They also couldn't stay in their old hotel. How would Jaune or the others afford it?

"I have a private account for expenses," said Nubu. "I can arrange our stay."

"Where did you get the money?" asked Jaune.

Nubu looked at him. Where did he _think?_

"Well, thanks, Nubu," he accepted her. "When we reach the city, lead the way."


	61. Forecast Fire

**Forecast Fire**

 _I am alive. I am free. I am a Branwen._

"Raven Branwen, look upon your goddess and realize your desire to please her. Where did those children go?"

The false maiden thought she knew so much. Everything, from what Raven could see. And she could back it up. Raven could _feel_ it. Could feel the draw. But compulsion didn't come easily, not to everybody. _I am free to think._

Besides. Raven wasn't human enough anymore. Cinder's storm washed over and past her. "A day out from the city." The corruption burned inside of her, detecting disloyalty. It spread through her organs, leaving distinct trails of agony radiating from her core. A lie. It was a lie. Raven Branwen could still resist.

As long as it wasn't a fair folk asking.

"The girl still makes Salem nervous," said Cinder. "Despite my countermeasures." Her intention was not to inform. In fact, learning would likely reduce Raven's usefulness. But since the deaths of her previous minions, Cinder needed someone to speak at. Raven couldn't just escape Cinder's audience. She had to rebel in other ways. Smaller ways.

Ways that made all the difference.

"I have been placed at your disposal, mistress." That was a truth, mostly. She had to do what Cinder asked. Down here, Raven had to do what everybody asked. Looked at that way, Cinder was one of the least important. Any fair folk could countermand her orders.

"I understand you'll be cooped up down here for a while. Taking pity, I've decided you'll accompany me on my next venture." Cinder needed her. Raven's mastery of the fair magics was top among the blighted. In her niche, when her use aligned with the intentions of the corruption, she was the strongest in the world. Besides, perhaps, fair folk themselves. Raven had seen them use powers almost as few times as she'd seen them leave their city in the first place.

The corruption had reached her skin, crawling out from her chest, gouging well-worn paths up the nerve endings in her limbs and neck. Cinder could notice. Cinder wouldn't notice. Raven was beneath Cinder's notice. Maybe she thought Raven was like the other blighted. That she would clutch her chest, and fall to the ground screaming, and silently decide to never defy the corruption again. Maybe she thought Raven already had. As Cinder must have, once.

 _I am not you. I am not a slave. I am a Branwen._

The argent could once have been her daughter. Except, of course she couldn't. She was special. Raven had never been special. She was prosaic, a gift of the Branwens. Unworthy of notice. Maybe they didn't blight her correctly because she volunteered. Maybe it was because she'd been their first in so long. Or at least, the first to survive the process.

 _I did it for Summer. That's why it works._ She could resist, as long as it served the purpose of her surrender. She endured pain for her leader. Her _real_ leader. Raven Branwen's alpha wolf. _As long as I see the girl as you. As long as I see you in her._ She could leave all the notes she must.

"Well? Get going." It was a classic tactic of the abuser. Demand the impossible. Demand the orders be followed before they're given. _I am smarter. I am better._ The corruption seethed against her declarations.

Raven drew Gerfiwr Byw. She didn't _need_ it, but when most of the brain was focused on keeping blood vessels from bursting, rituals could help concentration. "Where to, mistress?" She didn't have to say that. Far from it. She could curse Cinder out, make a portal for herself, and get thirty or forty steps through it before weakness took her. _I am pragmatic. I am timely._ It made the corruption recede, just a little.

"I'm feeling cosmopolitan today. We're going to Mistral."

After all of the effort spent keeping Cinder from Ruby Rose, now they were headed to the same city on the same day. And Raven was thrice damned. She might have swayed Cinder if she'd been honest with Ruby's location. She might have swayed Cinder if she'd lied about Ozpin's. And now, she would have to watch Ruby challenge her and die.

This pain was new.

 _I don't give up._

Raven sliced a hole in the world and watched Cinder step through. She could make one where she wanted, and see how a maiden's aura handles a bath in lava. It was so easy to do; only impossible. The thought made her flinch and then stumble as her corruption flared, but by then Cinder was on the other side. Nobody saw.

 _I was a mother._ Raven would do what she had to. Ruby Rose was her daughter, at least by proxy. Raven would follow Cinder's orders, what she must, but that didn't mean she would help her win. Cinder had already expended Inner Storm attempting to buy her allegiance. Raven needed to get her where she wanted to go before she could use it again.

If Raven had enough unblighted humanity left to feel love, something would help her. When the time came.

 _I am a Branwen. I am a Huntress. I am Raven._

And if not, she would do it on her own. Somehow.


	62. Inhaler

**Inhaler**

"As in, directly for her." Yang listened to an answer. "Yes. Chestnut street. When I'm good and ready, that's when. Did she ever actually save her life?"

The house looked normal, as far as houses go, as far as Neo knew them. Besides all of the trees growing through it, but there weren't that many, and most of them were on the outer walls. And she got to sit down in a chair, albeit at a table in the center of the kitchen.

Neo _could_ rip the door off the refrigerator, and maybe even incapacitate Yang with an improvised chain-door. But she wouldn't be very inconspicuous moving around outside, and she'd have to leave Roman behind. Just seeing the outside through a window... Neo wasn't much for nature, but it was nice. Enough for now.

"With... as in my sister?" Yang spared Neo a glance, then a double take, then a triple take. Neo glanced back and tried not to react. Tried to focus on Roman. He could wake at any time.

"So Blake trusts her? She was defending Torchwick." Yang sighed. "It always is. No, don't put her on. I will. Yes, I will! Give me time. 1134. Yes. Yes, I picked up on that, thanks. What do you mean by _with_? With Ruby. ...Really?"

"I will." Yang made eye contact before lowering her scroll and pressing a few buttons. "Don't kill me, Neo. We're going to discuss this like civilized huntresses." The woman walked up to the distance Neo's chain could reach from the fridge, paused, walked up to Neo's current reach, paused, and finally dug a key out of her pocket and freed her.

Neo rubbed her wrists. Aura stopped damage, not pain. In two hours or three, she probably wouldn't notice the soreness.

Yang placed her scroll in Neo's hands. The only functioning one in the house, and she'd locked it into text entry mode. Now was when Yang asked her about Roman, and Cinder Fall, and why she was locked up, and Neo asked her in turn what was going on with her ice arm.

Yang reversed the chair on the other side of the table and sat down, resting her arms and chin on the back. "What," she asked, "are your intentions with my sister?"

Neo blinked several times, her eyes cycling through colors.

Yang seemed taken aback by the eyes, but soon recovered enough to prompt, "Well?"

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀɴʏ.

"Blake said you were awful friendly."

Neo rose, took a few steps and stretched. Yang put on a relaxed front, but she was tense. From here Neo could see the toes of her boots pressed against the linoleum, ready to spring away at the sign of, well, anything.

Neo sighed and sat back down. She gained nothing spooking Ruby's sister. ʀᴜʙʏ ʟᴇғᴛ. ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ.

"I heard. What will you do when she comes back?" _When_. The woman had faith.

Well, Neo had to have some too. At least a little. At least that much.

ʟᴏᴠᴇ ɪsɴ'ᴛ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ.

"Wrong."

Neo gave Yang no reaction. If it was wrong, she could take it up with Ruby.

"You love her."

Neo nodded. Yang already knew.

"And she didn't want you coming when she left."

Neo nodded again.

"Why? Does she love you?"

 _If she'd done something terrible, something I could never understand, would I leave her?_

Neo looked down and shook her head. It had felt a lot more nuanced living it, but there was no flaw in her reasoning. Ruby _was_ wrong. First because love _was_ enough, and second because by that reasoning, whatever she felt for Neo couldn't be love.

"You don't want to see her again?"

Neo didn't look up. What good would that do?

Yang rubbed her hands together. How did that even work? Just sounded like skin and a glove. "Right. We should get Torchwick outside before the cops come."

Neo stood up and set her jaw. Maybe Yang _should_ be uncomfortable. ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴜʀɴ ʜɪᴍ ɪɴ.

"And why not?" Frost began to blossom up her sleeve in hexagons and lines.

ɪɴғᴏ ᴏɴ ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀ. ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ sᴇᴇ ʜɪᴍ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ɪɴ ᴄᴜsᴛᴏᴅʏ.

"I..." Yang pointed, and an icicle formed on the tip of her finger. "I'll ask Weiss what she thinks about that."

Neo had to keep her friend close. Tires screeched outside.

"Get Roman." Yang grabbed Iris and left the house.

No, Yang hadn't left the key on the table. She hadn't left it anywhere, that Neo could see. She knelt next to his limp body. Had Yang forgotten that she chained the man to the oven?

Forty seconds later, Neo opened the front door and walked out with one of Roman's ankles under each arm. Behind her, thumping down the thankfully low front step, came Roman, his body balanced on the center of the oven door. And behind that dragged the loop of chain connecting the two.

Yang was speaking with her teammate Weiss Schnee in front of a large shiny black sedan. "Neo! Scroll." Yang held out a hand.

Neo gave her scroll back, and Yang unlocked it. The phone started to beep. "You should mute that," suggested Schnee. "It'll keep going for a while."

"This has to have been recent," said Yang, silencing the beeps.

"Just after I started over. Latest from Vale says they took back Beacon Tower, with the help... of Professor Ozpin." Schnee made sure to slow down and emphasize the last few words of her reveal.

"You know, coming back from the dead is actually rather Ozpin-like." Yang shrugged, then checked her scroll. "Reminds me of something Tahki said. Looks like I have four hundred... five hundred... and thirty new messages."

"Yeah, some of those were me. Atlas Academy didn't agree with me. Neo." Weiss pivoted. "Get Torchwick into the back seat, then join him."

 _If she wants me free and with him, I can't object too harshly. She must know she can't beat me._ Neo opened the car's door and hefted the man up. The car's interior was divided, and it looked like there was a driver in the front. Of course Schnee would have one. Neo hauled Roman into the car then tried to lift him to the seat. _Maybe in this condition, she can. At least until I've eaten._ Moving a body was harder than throwing an opposing fighter. All of the weight just sags. Yang took a step over to the car to join her.

Schnee pointed and placed a glyph in the air blocking the open door. "Nuh uh. You, Yang Xiao Long, are going straight to the hospital and meeting Blake. No excuses."

"Weiss, do you _want_ to be alone in a car with Neo and Torchwick?"

"As a matter of fact, Blake had nothing but praise for Neo, as you'll know soon enough. Now we three are headed back to my cozy penthouse apartment in center city. " The glyph flickered as Weiss passed through, then went back to lazily rotating in the air. "It's a short walk to the hospital. And if you're good, I'll send a car for you afterwards. And good job rescuing Neo."

Weiss plucked Iris from Yang's grasp and slammed the door in her face. Yang stood motionless on the curb until the car turned a corner and Neo lost sight of her through the tinted windows. Weiss settled into the rear-facing seat opposite Neo.

"Now then. Neopolitan. Blake trusted you with her life, hard though it is to believe. And Ruby before her."

Neo had no scroll with which to respond.

"Yang had a lot of reasons to come to Mistral, some better than others. Personally, being with my team is the best little time I've had in my life. And Ruby is key to that. There's something very freeing about letting someone else take all the responsibility." Weiss stared out of a window. "Why I can't detach like that in Atlas, I don't know. I think the trust must be given, never forced. Anyway, if you still want to help her, and help humanity, and help me, you're going to help me figure out where she went."

Roman snorted and raised a hand, only for the oven door to prevent it from reaching his face. Neo leaned over and brushed the hair from his eyes. Well, away from his left eye. He didn't seem to mind it on his right. She avoided his skin, the man had suffered enough.

Roman blinked. "Elloizequeen," he muttered.

"And maybe help yourself, too," Weiss added. "Are you hungry? I haven't eaten in hours. Driver!"


	63. The Calling

**The Calling**

It was surreal being back in... in civilization. There had been people up north, but travelers had been a curiosity. Now they'd sunk into Mistral and blended. Strangers ignored Ruby on sidewalks, cars drove by on paved roads, and signs advertised goods.

This was what she'd been building towards. What Ruby had _wanted_ to happen. Back, safe and sound. No further casualties.

So why did Ruby feel worse than she ever had?

"I have left a message for your parents, Jaune. But the scroll is dead." Ren handed it to him anyway. "We will need outlets to send more."

They'd been so close to the fair city, wherever or whatever that was, then they'd been on a ragged retreat ever since. Ruby had been in charge then. Before that, she'd been the one who decided to follow Qrow. The one who agreed to his plans. None had spoken against her.

 _I left Qrow there. I left Neo here._

Even Qrow's plan had failed, thanks to her weakness. Now Jaune took up the lead, because Ruby told him to. Her last act of leadership: Admitting her failure. Admitting that her decisions lead only to death.

Nubu left the bank holding an envelope. "My emergency account will cover room and board for a week. Let's check in."

Jaune and Ren followed her down the street. Jaune turned around. "Are you coming, Ruby?"

 _Nope!_

"Yeah, Jaune, I'm right behind you."

 _You don't get to follow. You don't_ get _to fail._

 _You're a leader._

Ruby grit her teeth and fell into line after them. Jaune would tell her where she had to go. He still...

Ruby's team hadn't been around for a long time. Blake wouldn't even follow her when their paths crossed. Jaune had Ren. It was something. Anything.

Then Ruby saw a flash from a few blocks ahead, from a window high in the air. The tower in the center of Mistral. The tallest building. And something inside it had exploded.

 _Go._ Ruby jumped over Ren's head and shot down the block before the sound reached her ears.

The street below the blast wasn't crowded, but neither was it empty. Ruby didn't have time to look up at the damage. She opened her arms and prepared to close them as she aimed herself down the sidewalk. A blink, and Ruby held a man in one arm and a boy in her other. She released them and skidded to a halt at the end of the block, propelling herself back. Up and down the block was too far. There were still people in the impact zone. Ruby planned her route. A pair of women with space between them, a building across the street, a gap in car traffic. She burst into petals.

Somewhere down the street, the first person screamed.

The pair was lighter than Ruby had guessed, so her liftoff shot her into the building across the street about ten feet up instead of five. She'd cracked the sidewalk where she'd jumped, an imminently pointless observation, as well as the brick wall she'd used to stop. There was a teen boy in a T-shirt below a concrete shadow, just starting to look up. A girder hit the sidewalk ten feet behind him. Ruby dropped the women she held and leapt back across the street like a shot, arms out to grab.

Her trajectory brought her past the boy, who she grabbed around the shoulders and cradled to her chest. He nearly slipped from her grip but they shattered together through a tower window, broke the room's door, flew through the open doorway across the hall, and demolished a table in the room beyond. Behind her, Ruby heard shouts drowned out by a cacophony of crashes and the screech of tearing metal.

Ruby let the shards of conference table hit the walls and fall back to the floor while she breathed. She was inside the tower's first floor, with a boy about her age flailing around in her cloak. A few seconds later, he freed his head and the crashes outside got quieter. In their place was screaming.

 _You don't get to be a failure._

"Be safe," Ruby told the boy, looking at the window they'd crashed through. Half of the wall next to it was gone, replaced with haphazard shards of steel-reinforced concrete. She shot through a gap. She'd been moving too quickly, acting too quickly, to see more of the street than where she'd directly focused. But there had been more people.

They weren't here anymore. Some lighter debris were still landing, so Ruby rushed across the street. Both of the women she'd dropped had hurt their legs. _Sorry._ Through the cloud of dust, she could see bodies peeking out from the rubble. Ruby ran over to one, not quite able to sprint, and began to dig it out. _Him_ out. Where were Jaune and the others? Would they be able to see her from outside the cloud?

"Move!" shouted a man, shoving Ruby down. A flaming piece of wooden desk landed on the buried man, _the body_ , breaking apart and shooting flaming woodchip shrapnel into Ruby and the man next to her. He had some sort of aura, thank dust. Older, in a suit. Ruby's was low. She'd been reckless.

Ruby stood up and helped the man to his feet. In turn, he pulled her along until fifty feet from the impact zone. Ruby was numb, lightheaded. She couldn't quite feel her weight when she stepped. Too much semblance too fast. She leaned against one of the cars stuck in gridlock and slid to the ground, focusing on her breathing. Slower. Slower. There were still more people. Some could be alive.

"Ruby?"

Three cars down, a door was open. Out of a black limousine stepped Weiss Schnee, her brow furrowed.

Ruby sprang to her feet and dashed over. "Weiss, there are people hurt, we have to help them before..."

Another blast of thunder, and the screaming increased in volume. Weiss looked up and placed a glyph fifteen feet above her head, large enough to touch buildings on both sides of the street. Rubble crunched into it, spreading dirt and dust, plumes billowing off the edges.

"Ruby, what are you doing here?"

Ruby couldn't see more than ten feet in front of her. "I'm here with Jaune. And Ren. And... and a girl. We were battling Cinder, and the fair folk, but we had to come back, we couldn't... I couldn't..." Her eyes watered from the dust. Aura stopped damage, not pain.

"Ruby." Weiss placed hands on Ruby's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "There's somebody here you need to see."

Ruby looked up while Weiss stepped into her car. Weiss was placing glyphs underneath glyphs and letting the upper ones lapse, dropping the rubble down inches at a time. She'd been doing that while talking? While Ruby was still struggling to catch her breath? She was doing that now, yelling and ordering "Come out!" to someone else..?

Weiss finished yanking her companion out the door. Neo, dressed in speckled grey, still as she could be and staring at the street. Trying to fade away.

 _My other mistake. Abandoning the one person who counted on me._ It was still too dusty for rescue.

"Weiss, how do you know Neo?" Ruby paused. "And why are you in Mistral? And, hold on, _how_ are you in Mistral?"

"Yang, Yang, and my father. Neo, say hello." Weiss walked behind the woman and shoved her forward.

Neo stumbled into Ruby and looked up. She didn't need words. Her face said, _I'm sorry. I did my best. I did all I could._ And _please forgive me._

There was another explosion, this one from further away. Ruby couldn't see anything through the dust, save Weiss's glyph above them. She decided to wait a minute before worrying. "Since I left, have you..."

Neo shook her head. But then, Ruby could have guessed. Because that's what Ruby had needed her to do.

There was one person who Ruby could lead. All she had to do was let them follow. No, that wasn't quite right. There was one person Ruby could stop failing. All she had to do was agree to work with her again. Once more. There was one person Ruby could accept, wholly and completely. All she had to do was bare her soul and be accepted in turn.

There was one person Ruby could love. All she had to do was stop denying her feelings.

Ruby lifted Neo into a kiss. The woman melted into her arms, first afraid to react, then returning it with passion. Ruby cried. Dust.

Ruby opened her eyes and the world was silver. No. Her eyes were blazing, with silver shockwaves pulsing out from them to the beat of her heart. They raced across her skin, across her clothing and aura, making shimmering echoes across Neo where they touched.

"I love you," Neo spoke, loudly and clearly, and Ruby didn't need to hear anything else. They smiled.

Ruby's exhaustion changed to strength. She could _control_ it. Yes. Silver. It could only mean one thing.

Weiss pointedly cleared her throat before pointing to her scroll. "When we were on our way here, before the signal was lost, reports said a woman was throwing fire through the upper floors. Sound familiar?"

Cinder Fall. "Then I'll go." Weiss was better down here, anyway. She'd swapped her giant glyph to a dozen smaller ones, tilted, sliding the debris down into gaps between cars.

"Get going, Silver-eyed warrior," said Weiss. "If you're going to make a habit of saving kingdoms, I'll just have to keep supporting you."

Ruby smiled. "You are the best teammate I could ever hope for, Weiss. Save who you can. Tell Jaune he's doing a great job. Tell Ren he was right about me, and that he should try it himself sometime. Nubu... Meet Nubu. She'll like you."

Ruby was light on her feet. So light that she stepped right off of them and into the air. It was a bit precarious and took concentration, but she could float in whatever direction she wanted.

The hows, the whys, those weren't important. Successes, failures, those could wait.

Cinder fall was here, and Ruby finally had the power to stop her. She floated five feet up. Ten. Then a weight tugged on her leg, and Neo became visible, hanging from Ruby's boot.

Ruby heard glass shatter blow her. "Hey!" shouted Weiss. "Come back here!"

Ruby smiled. This was right. If it was honesty that unlocked this power, she would need some help. From the one person who couldn't lie to her. The one who had given everything for her. She reached down a hand and lifted Neo into a hug.

They broke free of the dust and rose through the brisk spring air.


	64. Cascade

**Cascade**

"Yang Xiao Long is" the man's voice cut off with a ɴᴏ sɪɢɴᴀʟ. Blake sighed and put her scroll away. The guard hadn't sounded urgent. Just telling her that one of her disreputable friends was visiting, someone from her past. _I'm doing what I think is best for us. I'm fighting for the faunus and humanity both._ Some of them could see it. _I'm not running._

She wished she was. Just open the window, anchor gambol, and swing away... Yang would be up any minute. The girl who, from what Weiss had said, had recovered remarkably well from her dismemberment. The girl who was using every opportunity to delay or run from this meeting herself.

Yet here she was. Blake took a breath and collected herself before removing the board from her doorway. They'd moved rooms earlier, but the new room had taken even less time to lose its proper door to roots and warping. It was only for privacy anyway; the floor full of white fang was protection enough for the Green Goddess. For Shell.

Blake swallowed and stepped into the hall. Yang was only a few doors away. At least Blake's guards weren't making a production this time. More forewarning, less Schnee.

Yang followed her into the room, and Blake replaced the board. It was something to do. She moved back next to her bed. Yang was standing, so Blake didn't want to sit.

Blake looked up at Yang's face. Yang was staring. Blake flinched and looked away.

After a minute, Yang tried. "...So."

"He-hello, Yang."

Yang took a breath and released it. Then she yanked off her glove, revealing a hand of moving, articulated ice. "I don't blame you for this."

A maiden did it, Weiss had explained. Which had necessitated a whole other series of explanations. Well, for the ice part, not the lack of flesh and blood. "Adam is dead," said Blake. "Neo killed him. And I did what I could from there. I didn't run again." It sounded so weak. She didn't screw everything up _again._ Did Blake really think it was all right to only ruin Yang's life once?

"You're wondering if you could face Adam, even now." Yang pointed an icy finger at Blake, and Blake felt a chill. "You never got the chance to confront him. You're wondering if you'll have his control looming over you for the rest of your life."

"It's not that simple," On second thought, maybe Blake _should_ sit. "He trained me. And when he died, I took over the white fang. It wasn't bloodless. I'm still leading them in all but name." Blake met Yang's gaze. "I can't _defeat_ him, Yang. I _became_ him."

"Pff." Yang rolled her eyes. "That's dumb. Adam tried to destroy Vale, and you stood up to him. Then you saved Mistral. That's the opposite of Adam. Try harder, Blake."

"Fine." Blake brought her knees onto the bed and hugged them. _I owe her this. Much more than this._ "I don't fear or hate Adam. I still love him. That's what scares me."

"Hmm." Yang sat down in the room's chair. "Maybe. There's more. That doesn't explain how you're acting now."

Acting now. With Adam gone, out of the way. Nobody here but a comatose woman and Yang. She'd been fine talking to Weiss. "I've hurt people. A lot of them. More than I should've. When I sleep, I see their faces." Blake rested her head on her knee. "Your face."

Yang nodded. "I'm sorry I caused you pain, Blake. But recently I've been thinking that everything might just happen for a reason. I know now why I was sent.

"I'm sorry for what I've done. I hope you'll understand. And if she's still aware, somehow, I hope she'll understand too."

She...

Was the room _colder?_

Blake jumped to her feet and opened Shell's curtain. The woman was where Blake had left her, lying in her bed. Only now, the entire bed was encased in ice, and Shell with it.

"You..." Blake spun on Yang. "Undo it!"

"Cinder's here," said Yang, throat tight. "I can't."

"Get rid of it!" Blake drew in dust, throwing a fire shadow at Yang. Then a second. Yang held her arm up to block, melting her hand.

"I'm sorry, Blake." Yang sounded sincere. Her hand was refreezing already.

Could she burn the ice away? What if it Yang made more? What if the fire did more damage? What if what if what if what if what if "Yang, please!"

"I'm sorry."

The world went green.

Blake was Remnant. Spinning in space with a moon that once was whole. The sun caressed her grasses and the wind blew through her leaves. She sent down roots.

Blake was Mistral. Warmth had come, melting the snow. The land had slumbered in silence. Now, she sprouted.

Blake was a forest. From a hospital up to the peaks of mountains, she stood to attention. A sentry against those that would do her people ill. Blake blossomed.

Blake was life. There was so much of it, everywhere. The souls swelled, and spun, and flowed into her. A million assembled hopes dreams wants needs loves fears cries and endings entered her aura.

Then Blake was Blake again. In a hospital room with a teammate and a frozen corpse, sounds of fighting bringing guards to her doorway. Her senses expanded, and Blake saw Yang. Yang was thinking about fairies and maidens. Growth and Maiden's Sight, the powers of Spring. Deeper. Yang was on the first floor while a feed of Cinder Fall went dead, making up her mind. Deeper. Yang was telling Weiss, "She won't want to, but we _must_ get her to Ruby." Deeper. Yang was sitting under the crest of a wave, learning how grimm were created. Deeper. Yang was watching a man in a mask stab her partner, realizing how far she would go to protect her.

Almost a second had passed. The board was knocked from the doorway, Alba leading the charge. Blake wanted her to stop. She understood. She forgave. It was impossible to do one without the other.

So Alba stopped, roots ensnaring her limbs. And the others stopped, the roots of the doorway expanding, twisting, moving to bar the way. The white fang fell silent, and the green faded.

Blake coaxed one of Sylvia's sprouts around her left wrist, and held her right hand out to Yang.

"Is it... Did it work?" Yang asked, placing her hand in Blake's. Even more than whether Blake still loved her, Yang had one question. Was Blake changed by the process, or was she still whole? Did Blake Belladonna survive the transition?

Blake pulled Yang to her and pushed off through the window. Plummeting to the ground in a shower of glass, she clutched Yang closer and called to a tree below them. Yang knew that time was short. She would understand if Blake explained on the way.


	65. Walls

**Walls**

Neo was fast. It was how she fought. Move with speed and precision to neutralize enemy offense. Her own strikes could come in time. A fight was won when the enemy's spirit was broken, and nothing could destroy an attack like empty space beneath a blade.

Neo watched Ruby in awe.

Ruby had... _transcended._ Her attacks, her movements, they weren't faster than Neo. They were just _better._ Ruby moved with grace, her every turn a pirouette, her every step a glide. She still had her scythe for large-scale positioning, and worried only about the small.

"This is futile," said Cinder from above, a blast of flame melting another room. She'd already burnt much of the roof off the tower. Neo sprinted forwards.

"Sorry, Cinder." Why did Ruby talk? Things would be so much easier if she didn't talk. Still, Neo could forgive her, hearing her voice. "But after I'm done with you, your bosses are next!"

Ruby, as predicted, jumped into the open.

Cinder, as predicted, sprayed fire. A roaring jet of flame carved through the floor, tracking Ruby as it went.

Neo tackled Ruby out of the way and glassed, flipping in midair around the girl to pull her into a carry. She landed, jumped, pushed off a wall, and threw Ruby upwards. Ruby reappeared feet from Cinder's position as their glass statues melted. Right palm forwards, glowing silver. _I can't explain everything,_ Ruby had said. _But I can beat Cinder._

Ruby touched Cinder's chest, and a shockwave of silver blasted from the point of impact. Both were flung away from the point of contact, and Neo caught Ruby where she landed. Unharmed. Cinder shot back and down, landing on an intact segment of roof and skidding backwards.

Cinder smiled, and Neo ducked behind a wall. _Also unharmed._ "Fool me twice, shame on me!" Cinder shouted as Ruby got to her feet. "It hurt so much last time you burnt Salem's magics out of me, I decided not to get more."

If Ruby's new silver powers didn't work on Cinder, the battle was much less certain. No, victory was nearly impossible. But Ruby was awake, alert, and far from giving up. So it fell to Neo to ensure she stayed alive until she decided to retreat. Neo knew a lot of things about Ruby. Like the fact that nobody could make her leave if she didn't want to.

Once they were safe, Neo would learn more.

Ruby snuck closer, through some of the rooms that still had ceilings. Neo followed. "At least," Cinder's voice reverberated through the building, "until I exterminate your line."

They passed a hole in the ceiling. Neo glassed and jumped through it. Cinder wasn't in the air above, so either she'd flattened herself to the roof somewhere or she was down on their level. Knowing Cinder's ego...

Neo dropped back down and reappeared. She tapped Ruby and pointed around them in a flat circle. Ruby nodded, shifting her scythe in her hands, and ran through a doorway into a room missing its top and most of its sides. She dodged a blast of fire from the right and took off towards its source.

 _In for a penny, in for a lien._ Neo jumped back through the roof and sprinted right. Below she could see Ruby struggling to score a hit on the woman. _If she sees an attack coming, she blocks it._

Eyes silver, Neo glassed and jumped down behind her. She opened Iris in midair, and used the canopy to hook Cinder's arm. Cinder turned sideways at the pull, and Ruby swung at her back.

Then Neo fell through the floor. No, something on the floor. A muddy mess of red and black shadows had appeared, and Neo and Cinder were sinking through it. There was a familiar tearing sensation. "Neo!" shouted Ruby, reaching out her hand.

And Neo was falling through the sky. The tower was next to her, thirty feet away. Cinder, floating in the air, grabbed a handful of Neo's hair and tossed her. Neo couldn't hold on. She couldn't fight Cinder's strength with strength. She held Iris up to slow her fall, to survive.

Cinder looked down on her and smiled. Another one of the holes appeared behind her, and Cinder moved through it and was gone. Neo could float peacefully down to the ground.

 _No!_ Neo fired Iris's canopy down and behind her, accelerating up to the hole in a burst of recoil. She flipped and made her body into a ball, and felt the tearing again. Beyond the boundary, she landed on her stomach next to Cinder, who was busy knocking Ruby through a wall. The portal behind her disappeared.

 _They can appear vertically and horizontally. I can go through them alone._ This wasn't an ability Cinder had used before. At least, not in front of Neo.

 _We can't win, Ruby. Run. Please._

Neo flipped to her feet and stabbed at Cinder with Iris's blade. The woman dodged out from between the pair, and Neo pulled away from Ruby's wide lunge. Cinder blocked the scythe with her right hand and shot fire at Neo with her left. Without Iris's canopy, Neo had to duck and roll away, the fire melting a wall. _Barely a distraction._ Once she had cover, she glassed and ran in for a jump-kick to the spine. The impact knocked Cinder's breath out and hit her into Ruby's next strike. Crescent Rose flung the woman back again, so Neo punched her in the face. It didn't seem to do much to damage, but it made Neo feel better.

An explosion of fire threw Neo and Ruby away. Neo palm-struck a wall and rebounded, her arc bringing her straight over another portal that had opened. Cinder wasn't even looking her way. It was...

 _I've seen these before. But it wasn't Cinder making them._

Neo landed hard and did her best to distract Cinder from Ruby. A feint, a roll, a strike with little power. If the portals can be made instantly, Neo was already dead. So she might as well assume they take time to place. And probably only one at a time. Probably not too quick after the last. Assume the parameters that allow life. Stay light, don't move predictably. Wait for a sign.

A miniscule waver in the air was all the warning Neo got. Had she been moving any faster, she would've run straight into it. Instead, Neo stopped and watched while the portal blossomed in midair. Behind it, hazy and insubstantial, was a face in a mask.

 _The woman who saved Yang._ Why?

Neo owed her a lot. She'd prevented Neo from making a mistake. Something Ruby would never have forgiven. But Neo did _not_ owe anybody her life.

A bullhead surfaced in the nearby air and began firing at the combatants. Ruby ducked behind a wall, while Cinder took a more proactive approach to the pilot's wellbeing. Neo jumped for the woman she'd seen. The woman she'd been too frightened to attack before.

Before, the woman had attacked her to save a defeated nonentity. Now, she meant to save the woman trying to kill Ruby. Two different wars, two sets of combatants. She'd even switched sides. The only common thread was attacking Neo both times. Was Neo the target?

If so, Neo could draw her away. Trading herself for a stronger opponent would help Ruby in the long run. But were the portals aimed at Neo her only contribution? Why none at Ruby?

 _There._ She was translucent, like she'd half-glassed. It wasn't something dust could do. Was it her semblance? Were the portals? Were they connected, like Neo's glassing was to her invisibility?

Her red and black clothing and grimm mask were obvious. _I never thought I could beat the last iaido practitioner wearing red and black and a grimm mask. I just had to get creative._

Neo harried with Iris's blade and the woman brought out a massive dust blade to block. Then the woman swung back, blinking fully into sight. Neo jumped back, but didn't clear the edge in time, taking the hit on Iris's side and getting thrown into a wall. _This is when I need the canopy. Lets me close the distance._

The masked woman stabbed for Neo again and again. Against a wall, Neo couldn't leave her range, so she knocked the blade to the side each time. The dust sliced through the wall like butter, each score creeping a little closer to Neo. Neo was hitting her limits of both energy and skill. Weiss hadn't had time to feed her. And Neo hadn't fought since the invasion. Hadn't walked. Aura could maintain a physical state, mostly, but when your opponent was stronger than you at your peak, could beat you when you had both halves of your weapon...

The woman abandoned stabs and came in for a kick. _I'll need to get dirty._ Neo rolled under the leg, while the woman's kick shattered the pockmarked wall behind her. The debris fell through the air and down to the street.

Neo rolled past the woman's planted leg and sprung to her feet. She ripped the woman's mask off with one hand while swinging Iris around with the other. The face under the mask looked almost familiar.

The blade bounced off the aura on the woman's eye and she grabbed Neo's arm. It had been a long shot, of course. Healthy undamaged aura wouldn't fold to a single strike from a blade. But Neo had to try.

Neo hooked her legs around the woman's torso to anchor herself, but the woman had reach, and pulled her too far out to get a solid hold. "She likes you," the woman said.

"Please, no," whispered Neo.

The woman took two steps and tossed Neo. Neo grasped in vain for purchase on her bracer before falling down past the floor and into open air.

With no canopy, Neo had no way to slow herself down. Her aura was under half. Enough to absorb a fall from thirty or forty feet, if she was careful. Not terminal velocity.

Could she aim for something soft? Street level was still obscured by dust. There was no way to aim. Not until... Would the cloud slow her down? Could she get all the way across the street and slow down on the edge of the next building? In three or four seconds, she would reach its height.

Was that it, then?

Well, it wasn't so bad. Neo had made peace with Roman, sort of. She'd seen Ruby again. They'd kissed. It made Neo feel all kinds of special. And she went down with pink eyes. The end of the battle had been fun. She'd never even had a chance, but fun.

Ruby would be all alone, but maybe she would realize she could run. Maybe she would figure it out. Hopefully. It was all that was left. _Goodbye, Ruby. Roman. Ruby, your friends were nice. Tell them that._

Ruby had never told Neo she loved her. Hopefully she wouldn't beat herself up about it.

Fifty feet below Neo, in the air, another portal opened up. Out fell the canopy to Neo's umbrella. It was open, and wind resistance flipped it upside down.

Neo took Iris's blade and aimed it, but the canopy kept moving in the wind. Neo corrected. When she reached the canopy, Iris slid into place and locked.

Neo pivoted around it and burned out the rest of her aura keeping her arm in her socket. Somehow, she was alive.

 _She likes you._ Then came a portal. Not one to bring her back up the tower. One to let her drift to a landing. It would be minutes before Neo could get back even if she sprinted up every flight of stairs.

The woman wanted Neo gone. She deliberately _didn't_ want her dead. The woman was helping Cinder, removing half of the team trying to kill her. Yet she didn't want to let Neo die? Because she cared too much about Ruby?

Then what was she going to do if Cinder killed her?

Neo looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of any good sign from above. All she saw was an umbrella.


	66. Sound Pollution

**Sound Pollution**

Whenever they dipped closer to the ground, thoughts and ideas flooded into Blake's head. A few from the streets or near windows were about Blake's method of transportation. Most others were of anxiety or confusion: The loss of all signal, so soon after regaining the CCT, was hitting Mistral hard. Global connection. If only.

There were other, more personal feelings, glanced at but not delved into. When Blake pulled back up into the air on the crest of her green waves, they vanished from her mind like shadows. She tried to stay higher when she could. Maybe Shell had gotten used to this, somehow. Blake didn't see how she could spend much time near people any more.

Besides, Yang didn't want to admit it, but she really liked heights. Blake could hear the huntress grinning in her vines, strapped securely to Blake's back.

The buildings were rising, and now Blake could skim their rooftops, staying away from the dense streets but never quite leaving the inhabitants of the upper floors. At least they, from the sketches Blake could overthink while shooting by, were concerned more with simple, trivial matters. They might inspire contempt, but they wouldn't draw Blake down into darkness. Becoming elitist hadn't even been on Blake's radar. She seemed to stumble into these things.

 _That's the tower up there._ Obviously. Blake's eyes were better than Yang's, and she could see the smoke coming from the top floor of the building. Cinder wrecking Remnant's lifeline on the same day Ozpin, of all people, rebuilt it.

"That's the tower up there." Yang pointed her arm over Blake's shoulder. _Cinder is immune. Element and Inner Storm._

"I see it," agreed Blake.

"Cinder is immune," continued Yang, shouting into the wind. _Unnecessary._ "Maiden powers don't work on other maidens. The inner ones. She can still shoot fire and you can still grow, but she can't control you and you can't read her." _Liability._

"Shell must have been in hiding," Blake shouted back. "Maybe she didn't like the odds in this fight."

"Bringing others could be a liability," agreed Yang. Maybe Shell, Sylvia in Yang's mind, wanted a clean duel. Who could say? _Unnecessary._ "Do I even need to talk?"

"I like your voice," Blake shouted over the wind. "And you know you shouldn't come with me. But if you ask, I'll let you." Feeling the wants of others, their desires... How could a maiden ever say no? It was a good thing she wouldn't be able to see Cinder's soul. Blake might just be tempted to let her finally achieve what she'd worked so hard to do.

Less than a dozen blocks to go. Yang's mind was racing. Would she be helpful fighting fires on the ground? Could she survive a fall from a skyscraper? Would Cinder Fall know her name? Would she have Inner Storm ready? Would Blake lose tactical competency if Yang's life was on the line? What if she saw Yang die? Too many questions. Yang couldn't make a reasoned decision in time. She wanted Blake to make it for her. But she knew, tucked away in that brain of hers, that Blake didn't have the ability to reason _faster_ or _better_ than others.

What was floating down the side of the building?

 _What's that?_ Echoed Yang. Human eyes.

The nearest buildings to the Mistral CCT were barely half its height, so Blake's vines only brought them sixty floors up before they crossed the street and punched anchors through some windows. Above and to the left was a small figure in grey holding a circle of pink. Blake neared her, and she touched Neopolitan, and for the first time truly met her.

Neo _wasn't_ a bad person. She'd killed, but she didn't harbor hate, which put her at least one step above Blake herself. Neo was, however, bad at _being_ a person. She didn't quite get how to interact with anything more complicated than a game. She had selflessness down, to a bizarre degree, and various elements of devotion. Few happy memories. Few friends. Blake wasn't one.

Neo was falling from a battle between Cinder Fall and Ruby Rose, awakened in silver. Blake dipped back into Yang's mind to fill out the details. Argents were resistant to maiden powers as well. They could excise fair magic, but Cinder had none. Blake could also connect one more thread between the two. Cinder's mysterious teleporting companion, and a woman Yang had been dreaming of for months, years. One she'd seen use magic of the fair folk.

Also relevant was the fact that Cinder Fall had never ordered Neo to do a thing, despite knowing her name from the year she employed her. Cinder couldn't use Inner Storm. _Probably_. If her goal was to kill Ruby, using Neo would be the fastest route, given how Yang had told Weiss to maneuver the two together. Argents were maddeningly less binary than maidens.

Blake climbed up to Neo and grabbed her with a vine. "You're not done yet," Blake told the assassin. "Cinder's not dead. Yang, protect your sister. That's your duty." The three ascended. Neo was confused, terrified, elated. All appropriate. She would act when the time came.

Finally, her vines reached the building's battlefield. On the edge of the crumbling floor, an unmasked figure stood waiting, unsheathing a long red blade.

 _I AM FREE I AM NOT A MURDERER I AM FREE I AM ALIVE I AM FREE I LOVE I AM FREE I WILL RESIST I AM FREE I AM A BRANWEN I AM FREE I WILL NOT KILL MY DAUGHTER I AM FREE IAMFREEIAMFREEIAMFREEIAMFREE_

Blake screamed and clutched her head. She moved her passengers to somewhere, somewhere else. She... that voice. That feeling. That power!

That _aura_. Half of a soul, screaming twice as loud. No. Ten thousand times louder. The woman should've thought herself to death in a manner of minutes, if only such a mercy had been possible. How long had she been living like this?

Blake couldn't sense a thing. The crashes of willpower from that woman's head, did they ever stop? Couldn't she see how she was polluting the world around her?

Blake blinked tears from her eyes. She was the maiden of spring. She was about to do battle with the maiden of fall. Argents can purge fair magic.

All can change in time.

Her eyes were open, and Blake could see where she was. Her vines had grown, bringing her thirty feet straight out from the tower. She'd left the range of all thoughts but her own.

Blake grew higher, until she could see the battlefield from above. Ruby, exhausted, thrown from Cinder's attack. Yang, helping Ruby as best she could. Neo, umbrella out, zapping around the Branwen, accumulating cuts and rips in her clothes. _Did I just bring a combatant with no aura back into this fight? What possessed me to do_ that _?_

Neo's desire to come back. Being a maiden kept getting more complicated.

Blake grew a lattice of vines across the top three floors of the building. Unlike seeing thoughts, or minds, or souls, or whatever it was that Maiden's Sight granted, this came easily. She wanted reach, she wanted control. Shell had built a wall miles across even before the other defenses had crumpled and she'd had to overextend. A grid a few hundred feet across should be nothing.

Then Blake grabbed Cinder. The vines wrapped her arms and pulled them down, forcing her to kneel while Ruby slammed the woman with her scythe. Cinder grimaced and released a fireburst. Ruby dodged to her left, where Blake raised a wall of vines to shelter her.

Cinder looked up. Blake smiled and trapped her again. _Come then, maiden of fall._

Cinder combusted the vines and shot into the air. Ruby looked up at the pair. She rose from the floor, inches into the air, then wobbled and landed. Then she looked at Blake, shook her head, and ran towards Neo and Raven. Yang followed.

Blake began preparing her vines. She grew a net to catch herself if Cinder burnt her harness. And a backup harness and supporting weave. And a second. Below, Raven dodged through the jungle Blake created, on the run from the huntresses. She jumped in and out through portals, harrying, keeping them on their toes. But she didn't seem to be doing much damage.

Raven didn't want to kill. That was just fine. Blake brought up a wave of vines for Cinder.

Cinder's fire charred them to ash. Blake grew a flanking attack. Cinder toasted one side, and froze the other.

 _This is not going as I'd planned._

Cinder flew in, body glowing red, silence from her mind. Blake drew gambol into a guard. Vines didn't work, not on their own. It may have been why Shell didn't like the matchup. It may have been a reason for Blake to practice with her new powers, too, but her timetable wasn't so accommodating. Cinder was burning Blake's supports faster than she regrew them. Soon Blake would have to land or dedicate all of her Growth to staying in the air.

But Blake still had _some_ time. She juked her harness away from Cinder's charge. When Cinder adjusted to her new position, Blake trapped her ankle with a carefully readied vine, shadowed out of her harness, and brought gambol down on the woman's neck.

Well, she tried to. The vine burnt up as it neared Cinder's body, Blake's shadow didn't work, and when Blake remained in her harness without dodging, Cinder punched her in the jaw so hard all of its vines snapped.

The pain, though significant, was couched in Blake's maiden aura, and her net rose to catch her above the tower. The shadow not working could be a problem. Had Yang mentioned anything about that? Had she _thought_ anything about that?

She could tell now, because Blake was falling fell right back into

 _I WILL STOP CINDER I AM FREE I WILL NOT KILL I AM FREE I AM A BRANWEN_

Blake opened her eyes. Time had passed. Cinder, five feet above her, threw fire into a melting umbrella.

 _I CAN RESIST I CAN OVERCOME_

Blake opened her eyes. Raven, fifteen feet away, sheared an ice arm off of her daughter. Blake lifted herself to her knees and tried to crawl away from her soul. A gust of wind blasted Blake into a wall glowing red with heat. She screamed as she burnt, until the wind slacked off and dropped her back to the floor

 _I WILL NOT KILL MY DAUGHTER_

Blake opened her eyes. Ruby blocked a blow meant for Yang, then attacked as Cinder moved towards Neo's body. Cinder dissuaded her with a blast of fire. Ruby dodged, and the fire shot past her into Blake. Blake screamed again, and her aura cracked. Too much. Ruby was strong. Ruby had too much to protect.

 _I WILL NOT LET YOU KILL MY DAUGHTER_

Blake opened her eyes. Ruby dodged in front of Neo's body, knocking a glass arrow from the air. Cinder blocked Yang's desperate strike and kicked her in the knee without turning around. _Liability._ Yang's aura shattered.

 _I AM ALIVE_

Blake forced her eyes open. Cinder fired an arrow at Blake, almost as an afterthought, pinning an ear to the ground. Then she split her bow back into swords and walked up to Yang. Ruby screamed and fired shots at the maiden, who didn't care. Blake was too hoarse to join in. Ruby had blood on her face. How long had she been fighting without aura? Yang's eyes were locked to the swords that would end her life. _Liability. All I was._ Blake was pinned down. Couldn't move her head. Couldn't see.

 _I AM FREE_

Blake lifted her head, tearing something. She pointed at a girder, lifting it with vines, and swung.

The blow knocked Cinder into a miasma of red and black. Beside her, Raven closed the portal.

Blake followed her into unconsciousness.


	67. Caring Hands

**Caring Hands**

Blake smiled a timid smile and squeezed Yang's hand. It didn't seem right, that Blake should be the one providing comfort. Her bow was gone, leaving her head topped with a cat ear on her right and a blood-spattered leaf mirroring it on her left. She'd been distracted, pinned down. Then she'd ripped herself free, when Yang had needed her most.

Still, she smiled. Smiled for Yang. For what did Blake have now to smile about? It could only be for what Yang was feeling, truly feeling for the first time.

"She's awake," prompted Blake. "She's talking to Ruby now. I'll stay back. Go to her."

Yang took a deep breath and nodded a few times before rounding the corner. Ruby, cuts on her face, lay against a patch of wall with unmelted paint. One hand cradled the chin of the woman in her lap, while the other stroked the burnt ends of her multihued hair. Neo's eyes were closed, her hands holding a red spot at her side. But she was smiling.

On the wall behind them, held upright and immobile with layers and layers of vines, was Raven.

"Hello, Yang." She sounded just like Yang imagined. Just like she'd dreamed. More... strained. But otherwise.

Yang stepped closer. Raven Branwen, her mother. Working for Cinder, until she'd saved Yang's life. Controlled. But now, home. Safe. Together.

"Hey, mom." Yang smiled and stepped up to her. "I never gave up looking." Finally. Finally.

"I know." Lines of black wormed their way down Raven's Legs, and up her neck into her face. "Thank you for that." She smiled, and began to cry.

Her right eye, a black line running through it, cried blood instead of tears.

"What did she do to you?" asked Yang. Ruby watched the two, concern naked on her face. "Can I get you—"

"No." Raven shook her head as much as she was able. "If I could move, I'd try to escape. Better that I'm..." She coughed, staining her lower lip. "Not. My freedom, Yang. I have to warn you." Something moved in the air. A ship. Yang didn't care.

 _You stopped Cinder._ We _stopped her. What could be worse?_

"The fair folk make grimm as they need them," said Raven. "They breed insects for worming through aura. Digging into human souls. They've been experimenting. Now that..." She shook her head and moaned. "Cinder wanted the CCT off so the kingdoms wouldn't know, couldn't warn each other. They've mass produced them. They'll destroy everything." Her left eye's tears turned red. The black lines under her skin were pulsing, fracturing, branching off. "Ruby, please. No more."

Ruby rested Neo's head on the carpet and stood. "You're sure." Yang bit her lip. Something was terribly wrong with Raven. With Mom. Why hadn't Ruby helped her yet? What was she waiting for?

"I'm not." Raven's voice cracked. She wasn't super-mom. She was scared. "I can't hold on anymore. Anything. Help me."

Ruby took a deep breath and turned Yang. "Yang, I'm going to burn the magic from Raven's body. We're not sure what will happen. It's been in her a long time. Been a part of her."

"I love you," said Raven. "I love you both. My daughters. Ruby, you're their best hope now. Stay safe. Be the alpha. Like your mother." She paused, collecting herself. "Yang, you'll find your place in this, I promise." She looked back to Ruby. "Now. Please."

Ruby opened her hand, growing a pinprick of light in her palm into a ball of silver. Yang opened her mouth, then closed it again. What could she demand? What did Yang have to say that was _so damn important_ she could delay this from happening?

"I love you, mom," she said. Not that she'd need to. Not that she wouldn't be able to say it, every day, over and over again. She smiled. Raven smiled back.

Ruby pressed the silver into mother's sternum. Mom gasped, the black lines across her skin turning silver, then burning out. Ruby stepped back, afraid. Then mom coughed again and was still, sparkles of red light drifting from her chest.

"Mom?" Yang placed a hand on her cheek, slick with blood. She was cold. It was so cold up here, on top of the city. How long had mom been left to endure? Why hadn't Yang noticed it before?

"Mommy?"

Neo grabbed Yang's arm and pulled it down. Then she wiped the blood off Yang's hand with her sleeve and yanked her until she turned around.

Yang glared. "Get off me." She shook off Neo's weak grip. Her breath was frosting. "She's..."

Neo shook her head, ash flying from her hair.

She was right. She was right.

She was right.

Yang took a shuddering breath. Ruby pushed past Neo and hugged her, burying her head in Yang's chest. Blake rounded the corner and embraced the pair, tears in her eyes. The blood from her ear had mostly been staunched by some layered leaves she'd pressed into her hair. Neo looked the three up and down, hesitant. Uncertain. How long had she been favoring that leg?

After a minute, Yang whispered into the ear tickling her cheek. "She wasn't _your_ mother."

"She's yours." Blake looked up at her, through her. "Isn't that enough?"

"You didn't cry when you lost that ear."

"Maidens are tough."

"I'm not?" asked Yang.

"No." Blake nuzzled her face into Yang's neck, her right arm still around Ruby. "You're a _big dummy_."

A hand reached out and pulled Neo into the hug. Or two. Or three.


	68. Eggshell

**Eggshell**

Thirty six civilians, so far. As well as nineteen Mistral army corpsmen and ten SDC strike ops before they relented and switched to unmanned. The tower was emitting some sort of radio interference, but as best as the operator could tell, the last drone saw no fighting and no fire.

Weiss had her pilot buzz the roof once before landing. Not that there was more than a corner of actual roof; almost the entire building went at least one floor down, and most of what was visible was concrete and steel, with a haphazard tangle of criss-crossing plants. And Ruby, Neopolitan, Yang, and Blake, watching her bullhead. Two of those were entirely unexpected, but there was no Cinder, and that was what mattered. Weiss's gamble had paid off.

Did those plants mean that Sylvia had been here?

"Touch down there," Weiss pointed. "Leave it on quarter boost." Certainly it seemed as though enough weight had been flung off it in the past half hour, mostly down onto her head, but there was no reason to risk the building's stability. She dialed open the main cabin door.

Jaune was first out, accompanied closely by Nubukha. Then came Ren, escorting a handcuffed Roman Torchwick, and finally Weiss herself. Weiss's team formed up in a ragged line outside the door, with Neopolitan leaning against a pillar behind them.

All of them looked like Weiss felt. Half of Ruby's face was one big bruise. Neopolitan's grey clothing was torn up and sprinkled with red, and she'd lost at least a foot of her hair, the remainder ending in char and ash. Yang seemed the least impacted, with some dirt and singe creeping in around her edges.

Blake's bow was gone. On top of her head she had a cat ear on her left, and a bloody leaf on her right. She turned and whispered something to Yang, then looked back to Weiss. "I lost my ear fighting Cinder. I've got three more. Can you move on already?"

Weiss frowned. "But I didn't—"

"You did," Blake interrupted. "You just didn't mean to."

"Blake," cautioned Ruby.

"I'm a maiden now. I can read minds." She looked at Torchwick. "Even yours." Then at Ruby. "Still not yours. I'm just guessing you're thinking that." Then back to Weiss. "Anyway, turns out having other people's thoughts inside my head makes it hard to control emotions. We defeated Cinder, thanks to Raven overcoming her blighting. Cinder escaped. Raven died." Blake looked at Jaune. "Yang's mother. Enslavement. Could everybody SHUT UP for a bit?"

Nobody spoke. Weiss barely dared think, but how could she avoid it? Standing on the sight of a battle between a maiden and two argents. Cinder's signs were obvious; she'd been taking pieces off the building since before the others had arrived. Blake's were obvious. The plants, mostly vines, divided both the floor and the walls, with clumpings indicating areas of special interest or conflict. It wasn't even voices that caused Blake problems. Would somebody speak already?

"So then, Blakey," asked Roman. "What's next?" Likely meaning, do you ask Weiss to let me out of these handcuffs? Not that Weiss would, not without a good reason. She still needed to know what he knew. And if she didn't, the police could have him.

Of course, a maiden who could read minds might be one of the better sources of good reasons. This pretty much ended Blake's ability to relate to people as equals, at least in person. She'd have to use scrolls and long-distance. Would she want to? Was the knowledge, the insight, was it worth the trouble with her emotions? Was Ruby, as an argent, the only person Blake could consider a friend?

"You confuse me, Roman. You sympathize with people. It's your semblance. You care for them." Blake walked up to him, but pointed back towards Neopolitan. "You care for her, in your way. You know you're bad for her. Why?"

"I'm actually quite a selfless person," he answered, standing as tall as ever. "Maybe it gets lost in my brash yet charming attitude, but I do more good than people give me credit."

Blake looked him up and down. "No," she decided. "You're selfish. You touch people and see suffering, but you don't understand it. You take without giving." She turned around. "Yes, he does!"

"Blake," pleaded Yang. "We all need to calm down and take stock in what we have right now."

"Blake, you're beginning to scare me," said Weiss. She seemed far too on-edge. Like the rest of the team, She'd changed since Beacon. Gotten more decisive, had authority thrown at her. Forced to stand up for herself. But this wasn't leadership, or maturity, or facing anything. Blake was lashing out.

"Yeah, I'm the villain." Blake rolled her eyes. "I don't know how Shell lived like this because I have more than enough problems in my own head. Do you really think you outwitted your father by taking his job opening?"

"Blake, I'm taking strides to—"

"Jaune, get over Pyrrha, she's not coming back. Nubu, get over Jaune, you only think you love him. Ren, grow up or tell Nubu how you feel, even if it's unhealthy and yes it is. You people and your hormones." Blake was shouting now. "Neo, nobody is worth what you put into relationships. You haven't been powerless for years, speaking doesn't make you vulnerable, get over yourself. Yang, you arranged for Ruby's awakening, the only one that thinks you're useless is you."

"Blake!" shouted Ruby. "Please!"

"Yeah, that too," Blake shouted at Yang, responding to some thought or imagined slight. "You had it all planned out, didn't you? Sorry I didn't turn out like you wanted. And I'm sorry Cinder's going to release a plague and end civilization." A line of green snaked up her back, a growing vine. "You want to feel, Roman? Feel everything." Blake pressed a hand to Roman's forehead. His eyes rolled back into his head and his legs gave out.

A pair of giant leaves erupted from around Blake's shoulder blades. "Neo has my number, for when scrolls work. Promote that pilot." Then she took a running leap off of the building and dropped from Weiss's sight.

Ruby ran over to the edge of the building and watched the maiden fall.

For a moment, everyone stood still, save for Ren checking Roman's vitals. _That went worse than anticipated._ Saying Weiss was still controlled by her father, was that something she'd already thought? Was it, like those of the other's relationship troubles, gleaned from a peek inside her mind? If so, what had Blake seen? Was it a reinterpretation of Weiss's own experiences, colored by Blake's mindset instead of her own, or some sort of objective truth? How much could Yang teach Weiss about maidens? How much did _anybody_ even know?

What would happen to Blake next? With one of the most powerful beings in the world running from the fight, how long would they have to figure it out?

Weiss hadn't contacted Winter when the CCT was up. Not even a text. Why?

"We're supposed to be a team," Ruby whispered.

"You know Blake," Weiss told her. "She runs. She comes back. Give her time. To get used to things." Weiss looked at Yang. The woman had explained maiden succession rather specifically.

"So." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "Am I the only one wondering about Cinder destroying civilization?"

Weiss sighed. "Everyone, get on board. We have triage tents set up on the street." The details of the apocalypse could wait for ten minutes and a meal. If Weiss was hungry, Neo would be as well, and Jaune's group had just arrived in the city.

"We'll make this right," Ruby said, with more confidence than Weiss felt.

"Yes, we will," agreed Weiss.

"He's unconscious." Ren lifted Roman. "Come. We all have some talking to do." Then he walked into the bullhead. Neo limped over to Ruby, grabbed her sleeve, and pulled her towards the craft. Nubukha watched Ren board, then joined him.

Yang looked at Weiss.

"We won," Weiss said. Maybe it wasn't _to_ Yang. It was just something to announce, a thousand feet up in the afternoon mistral air. Weiss hated not knowing.

"My mother died, Cinder lived, the CCT is down and the fair folk are about to wipe out humanity." Yang walked past her, to the bullhead. "And Blake hates me. Because I murdered her best friend. Take a victory lap."

"We're not beaten," Weiss insisted, alone on the roof.

She found she hated knowing, too.


	69. Herd Killing

**Herd Killing**

"Proper" had taken many forms over the years. First she'd seen it as impressing her father. It hadn't taken long before the demands on his life called him away, so he was replaced by proxies. Teachers, tutors, executives, family friends. Then, bit by bit, it had become her sister. Then, _impressing_ her sister... had it become _being_ her sister? Probably not, but still Weiss had spent more and more time around Winter as she'd grown older, as much as she was able while Winter grew more and more distant to the family structure. But she hadn't been goofing off. Weiss's goal had never deviated from pride, competence, and respect.

Which meant Winter had _no_ clue how to babysit.

" _This_ one is fun." Honorary Captain Qutinnguaq evoked a propulsion glyph half into Winter's console, shorting some wiring and turning off the screen. No warning bells sounded, save those inside Winter's mind, so hopefully her actions wouldn't result in the entire destroyer crashing or exploding.

"Honorary Captain," suggested Winter, rising. "Perhaps we should leave the bridge crew and retire to your quarters."

The young woman considered Winter's suggestion. "No," she decided. "I'm supposed to be here. Actually, over there." She pointed to the piloting console, where Winter's helmsman dutifully ignored her. "We have to go a bit more to the right."

They were in this unpopulated wasteland because of the captain's wishes, so what damage could course adjustments do? "Helmsman Iwo, course rotation on my mark. One degree starboard per minute. Mark."

The change was too slight to feel, but the compass indicated motion. Keep her out of trouble, Ironwood had said. How was Winter supposed to control a ranking officer? Even an honorary one, outside the chain of command?

"Ok, that's good!" shouted Captain Qutinnguaq. "Yes, I _know_!" she insisted to the air. "Listen, you..." She took a step, evoking another propulsion glyph under her feet mid-stride, and flipped over onto her back. "Oops. Sorry, Specialist. We were talking, right?"

"We were," Winter agreed. "The course has been adjusted. Shall we leave the bridge?"

"I guess I can. So many fun people here." The honorary captain walked up to a midshipman and created a glove of solid rock around her left arm. Winter had decided to stop being surprised when she did things like that. " _Fine_." She rolled her eyes at the air next to the man, petulant, and left out the main bridge door.

Winter hurried to follow. There was no telling what the woman would do left to her own devices. Or, by the way the woman seemed to hold half of a conversation, left to the devices of whoever was telling her what she could and couldn't do. "Honorary Captain."

"Pilo is fine." Honorary Captain Pilo swung her rock glove into a wall, denting it. "Yes, Summer, I _have_ told her that before. Some people miss things." She turned to Winter. "Anything from Ironwood? We were supposed to hear from him."

"Well, yes." How could she know about that? Winter hadn't expected it at all, and from what he'd said, even Ironwood had been surprised. "He called while you were asleep. The CCT blinked on and he gave us a short update on world events." As well as rejected Winter's formal request to return to Atlas, her second request to strip the Honorary Captain of command, and her fourth request, where she'd asked for a better explanation. Her third request, the first such one, had given her "she would figure out how to take you there anyway."

It _was_ better than the SDC. Winter was doing this because she chose to. She was already in the general's confidence, handling his under-wraps special assignments. Yes. That was how Winter would think of it.

Not babysitting at all. A special infiltration mission. That might lessen the sting.

Although the sting would probably disappear much faster if she wasn't babysitting a twenty two year old infant ordering around enough firepower to turn a paladin company to slag. Who had either the ability to copy semblances or a rather convincing surrogate thereof.

"Honorary Captain, are we nearing our destination?"

The woman paused, looking up. "I don't know." She must have seen something in Winter's face. "Don't worry, Specialist Winter. She'll know when we arrive."

"Who is _she_?" asked Winter.

"Oh, right. Not exactly a she. Sorry." Pilo nodded and grinned, embarrassed, before wandering back up the hall to to the bridge. She seemed carefree, like she barely even registered her own movement, but Winter practically had to sprint to slip through the door behind her.

As Winter's heel touched the bridge floor, the blasted klaxons started.

"Silence!" Winter's voice rang out above the din. "Vesper! Report!"

The alarms cut off. "One klick ahead. Some sort of cloud on the ground. Could be birds, Ma'am."

For a moment, the AMS Venture was silent. Then the honorary captain sang two words: " _Almost there."_

A chill ran down Winter's spine. "Battle stations," she ordered. "Engines full stop. Weapons active. Get me visual."

An image popped up on the display, washed out in the gloom. A swirling mass of white, and black, and dust. Even the zoom didn't show any real details beyond quick flashes of red.

It wasn't birds.

Grimm are drawn to humanity and its works. And Winter didn't have time to stop, turn around, and outrun it. "Fire when ready," Winter continued. "Destroy as many as we can. Security to discriminatory. All passengers, brace." The ship had no passengers. The words calmed Winter anyway.

The bridge lights flickered when the first volley fired, but soon the sound and the rocking of the ship were the only indication that the clouds of dust and fire on the screen were coming from Winter's location.

"Ma'am? Specialist Schnee!" Helmsman Iwo was engaged in a shoving match with the Honorary Captain.

"Captain Qutinnguaq!" Demanded Winter.

"We're almost there!" shouted the captain. "We have to go! It's really, really important!"

The cloud had halved the distance already, and Winter couldn't tell its numbers. Smaller than before, but the cloud looked to be nearly a mile long, extending past the ship's illumination and into the night. The chances that Winter could destroy it, or even thin it enough before it arrived to make a difference in what would happen when it _did..._

The cloud would reach the ship. Whatever happened then would happen. If Pilo knew about this, or her imaginary friend did, then maybe there was a reason they'd come.

Was Winter here to take back a warning?

Or was she here to get Pilo where she needed to go?

"Stand down, Helmsman," Winter ordered. "The captain will take us in. Security, backup to bridge."

The engines hummed to life as the ship started forward. Winter drew Seerose and took her position in the center of the bridge, just behind the captain. _Forty six souls follow in your wake. Make them count._

Five volleys later, the swarm impacted. The Venture shuddered and screeched as its hull tore in a thousand places. A beat faster than drums thudded against the viewport as grimm after grimm smashed into it, hairline fractures winding up and down its length. In the center, the fractures widened.

Winter evoked a glyph in front of the largest crack and began to build her army. Birds were best, with some beowolves rounding out her second line. The glyph snared some grimm, giving her a chance to study them for the first time. They looked like beetles, tiny grimm of mobility and rage.

The engines ground to a halt. "No!" shouted the captain. "No, no, no! Not yet!" Dead in the air. _What am I holding out for now?_

The right side of the viewport cracked open. Winter placed a second glyph over it and sent her birds at the slippage. They made quick work. The grimm outside were pressing harder, threatening to buckle the glyphs. _It doesn't matter. Fight anyway. Fight for your men._

The ship began to fall, the ground tipping into view. "Summer!" shouted Pilo. "Summer, what do I do?"

 _Fight for your Captain._

The viewport shattered. Winter's birds attacked, and were shredded in a cloud of grimm and fury. Winter froze half the opening, then fired a jet of flame when the ice shattered a second later. Within seconds she ran dry on fire dust and swapped to wind. Her beowolves were gone too. Half the bridge crew were fighting back. More than half were screaming. The grimm were burrowing through their skin...

"Summer, please, come back!" Pilo was on the ground, crying, bleeding from something. Winter glyphed to the captain and grew an ice cocoon. Her sister's technique. Let it work.

"Summer!" the woman shouted again. "You promised not to leave me! You promised!"

The ground rushed up at the Venture.

 **Words, Volume 5 - End**


	70. Brand New Day (Words: Illumination)

**Words, Volume 6: Illumination**

 **Brand New Day**

Neo cut through a convenience store on her way to vinewall. It wasn't well secured; guarding every building in no-man's land was beyond the limits of the existing military. More shelves were empty than yesterday. Someone had snuck in under cover of night and grabbed what they could. Understandable, nobody else was using it. And these days, people were hoarding whatever they could get. Some seemed to think that if the thread holding Mistral above the abyss were severed, a few cans of soup would save them.

Neo, by contrast, _wasn't_ stupid. She left out the back door and flashed her badge to the soldiers manning the gate beyond. _Gate_ was too a grandiose term. More accurately, it was an archway Mistral's border had grown around, filled in and repurposed. The officer on duty cranked it open. He know Neo by sight, anyway. She composed her face and stepped through, and the soldiers shut her out.

The fields unsettled Neo. The crops were three feet taller than they'd been yesterday, and the early morning sun cast long shadows, where it wasn't blocked by abandoned buildings. It was sometimes hard to see past the crepuscular rays to the ground below, plants shooting through cracks in the pavement. Every step could... _there._ Ten feet straight ahead. A body, a young woman in a black hoodie. If Neo was lucky, dead.

Neo drew her umbrella and advanced. Playing dead was more likely. Blighting almost never killed. It must have been recent, if she hadn't risen to attempt one of the two purposes.

At three steps away, two beetles burst out from under the body.

Neo swept her umbrella into a guard and popped it open. It was sluggish, nothing like Iris had been. But it conducted aura well enough to bat the grimm away. One hit a trellis and fell with a cracked carapace. The other was flung into a shaft of sunlight, where it burst into flames.

 _If only the blighted were as easy to deal with._ But no. That would deny Ruby her purpose. Neo danced closer to the body and poked it with the umbrella. Still no movement. She flipped it over. No more grimm.

Neo knelt down and checked the body. Her pulse was stable. She didn't see an entry wound, but that didn't mean much. Those could be anywhere, and they healed fast. Neo dragged the woman over to the trellis and cuffed her to it. She could free herself, especially if she were blighted. But she would make sound doing it.

Neo walked the rows, ears open. In ten minutes, she'd cleared the field, well, the streets-turned-field, as best as she was able. No more beetles today. She brought out her scroll and dialed in the all-clear. The workers would begin the harvest at six thirty, leaving the day's sunlight for next batch. Mistral had traded its miles upon miles of terraced farmland for small plots outside the vinewall. The Green Goddess had her limits. She couldn't expand the border _and_ feed the millions packing downtown Mistral's skyscrapers to bursting.

Neo walked back through the rows to find her captive was no longer alone. A tall man in a dark, tattered shirt with a drawstring bag around his back was pulling on her handcuffs. He noticed Neo just after she saw him, growled, and charged.

One of the two purposes. It was good when the world made sense. Neo hit him across the face with her umbrella, sending him down to the pavement, where he bounced and lay still. She crouched and rolled him over. His eyes tracked her.

Neo only had one pair of handcuffs. She hit the man again and his eyes closed. No shouting. Some of them were like that.

ʀᴏᴜɴᴅs ᴅᴏɴᴇ. ᴛᴡᴏ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛᴇᴅ. Neo pressed send.

ᴄᴀɴ sᴘᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴀʀ, Director Gulistan responded. ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴜᴀʀᴅs. ᴇsᴄᴏʀᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ. ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴅᴀʏ ᴏғғ. How generous of the huntress to offer Neo an afternoon free of unpaid, life-risking labor. Neo stowed her scroll and got out her key to unhook the cuffs from the trellis.

 _I could use a visit to the sanitarium anyway._ Neo sighed as the cuffs clicked back into place.

Which was when she felt the sting on the back of her neck.

 _GIVE UP GIVE UP GIVE UP GIVE UP GIVE UP GIVE UP_

Daggers pierced through Neo's neck, brain and soul. She screamed and raked her fingers across the pain. Something came away with her hand, besides the blood and tracks of skin.

 _GIVE UP GIVE UP GIVE UP give up_

The voice stopped. The pain did not. Neo reached up to the back of her neck and dug. She pulled out the remaining piece of grimm, dissolving, leaving the blood to drip down onto her hands.

Neo's aura stitched the wound. The agony may have lessened. There was still so much of it. Neo threw up. Mostly onto the ground. A little onto the man's legs.

The pain lessened to a dull throb. Bleeding with aura up made Neo dizzy. Nothing worked how it was supposed to any more. Even her own body's defenses.

That had been far too close. The grimm had waited for a distraction.

No, even large grim took time to learn basic knowledge. It must have been a coincidence. It must have just noticed her. Or been fleeing from a creeping shaft of sunlight. Or something else.

Neo slowed her breathing. Aura low, under a quarter, but stable. She threw the bodies over her shoulders, the man's shoes still scraping the ground, and staggered back to the gate. Waving to the camera was difficult with bodies over both shoulders, but possible. The door cranked open.

"There's a car for you, Miss Neopolitan." The officer on the other side pointed. Like she couldn't see the only working vehicle on the block. She hoisted her burdens over to it, where one of the soldiers slid open a door. A green minivan. The government was no longer limited to official resources. Neo threw the pair across the middle seats and circled the car to the passenger's seat.

"Where to, Ma'am?" asked the driver. A military cadet wearing a too-big hat.

sᴀɴɪᴛᴀʀɪᴜᴍ, Neo typed. He looked at the scroll, looked at her, bit his lip, and nodded before taking off. Probably hadn't seen many blighted yet. At least not enough to see handcuffs this close to the vinewall and make a conclusion.

The ride was only thirty five minutes, despite the density of the city. The woman regained consciousness in the middle, requiring Neo to take her to the back seat. Unlike the man, she was a shouter. She shouted at him for getting her into this mess, at Neo for keeping her in the city, and at the cadet for bringing her where she knew she was going. Why had she jumped the border in the first place? Did she think she'd beat the odds? That she'd be the one to slip past the grimm unmolested? Stupid. Neo sat on her and pinned her down. One hand held the woman's wrists and the other went over her mouth. There weren't many paddy wagons in the city. Gulistan probably realized Neo didn't need one. Perceptive bosses caused Neo trouble.

Then they were at the Sanitarium, and the cadet got out to explain Neo to the guards. That was nice of him. She would have to let go of her charge to use her scroll, and to make matters worse, the man was stirring. Less than a minute later, a pair of guards threw open the van doors and dragged the two into the building. A third man followed, holding a gag.

Neo sighed. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ, she told the cadet, leaving the car. Hopefully he wouldn't get into trouble for the vomit she'd left smeared on the seat.

Neo's ID was enough to get her into the building herself. The main floor was for convalescence, but she turned right and headed for the stairs. Individual rooms were on the second floor. Most were empty. One was not. The floor guard saw her and unlocked the door. The prisoner, the patient, wasn't a flight risk.

The room had a bed, a dresser, and a table with two chairs. He sat at one, his shock of orange hair turning white at the roots. Soon enough he'd look like her. Neo smiled. He smiled back, lines of black etching their way up his cheeks.

"Good morning, Mint Chocolate." Roman's face tightened into a grimace, just for a second, before it was Roman's again. "Having a good day?"

Neo took a breath. For a moment, she held it.

"Hello, Roman."


	71. My Eyes

**My Eyes**

The hope of humanity slept in until seven. Nobody woke her up.

Not that she had any staff on-hand, with a suitemate demanding privacy. So she woke up, rubbed her eyes, ate a bowl of cereal, and showered. Then came the clothing, and the hood, and the scythe. They'd become a weird sort of symbol. Ruby wasn't sure how she felt about it. But she knew they helped others. The public. The survivors. Many looked to her. She did her best.

It was about time. She scribbled a goodbye note and pinned the paper to the fridge before taking the elevator down. The sergeant waved her to the remaining limo; her decoy had apparently already left. Ruby didn't like putting others in danger on her behalf, but the man insisted. They all insisted. They all did so much for her.

It was a short ride to the sanitarium's back entrance. Ruby entered the building alone, her handlers having been finally convinced that _she_ wanted some privacy as well. The hallways were brightly lit, hostile, uninviting. Too sterile to tolerate life. Save one young short-haired woman leaning against a wall, absently twirling an umbrella.

Ruby smiled. "Hey, you."

Neo walked up to her, grabbed Ruby's head, and pulled her down into a kiss. Yes, the world needed the argent. But Neo, Neo needed Ruby Rose. And Ruby was happy to return the favor.

Two or three eons later, Neo broke the kiss. "Hey, you," she replied.

"Do you want to come with?" asked Ruby.

"Of course." Ruby tried not to take Neo for granted, but so far, the woman had followed Ruby everywhere. And was going to continue.

"Anything to say?" asked Ruby. Neo's last chance to speak before convalescence.

The woman glanced at the ceiling. "Roman's worse." Then her gaze settled on Ruby's face. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ruby took Neo's hand and led the way through the halls, until they reached the armed guards, who saluted her and opened the door. Ruby saluted back with her free hand and stepped through, Neo following in her wake. In her right hand, Ruby unfurled Crescent.

The blighted gave the usual responses. Male, female, young, old. Many shouted and strained against the straps holding them to their beds. Others hurled insults, threats, and vulgarities. Some cried. Others begged. It would be too much if Ruby spent any time processing it. Instead, she walked to the center of the room, all of her focused on her left hand, and the fingers hers intertwined. Neo was usually busy, off helping somewhere else, the condition of her pardon. Ruby knew she didn't _need_ the woman. But having her, it was still a treasure.

At the center of the room, Ruby closed her eyes and focused. She focused on dad, back at home, waiting on communication from Mistral. She focused on Weiss, wielding power selflessly, and giving it up selflessly as well. She focused on Blake, far from home, tormented by powers she didn't understand, wrapping her adopted city in a cocoon of safety. She focused on Yang, mutilated, altered, still working as an advocate for her teammates, tireless in her pursuit of a lasting solution. Still protecting her baby sister.

Ruby focused on Jaune, not quite part of the system, yet doing what he could to support it. She focused on Nubu, mourning her loss, persevering on instead of seeking comfort. She focused on Ren, placing the needs of others first.

Ruby focused on Gulistan and Amblik, once enemies, now unified, protecting the people. Ruby focused on the guards around her, with no superpowers, no grand dreams, and no ambitions beyond making it home to their families. She focused on the blighted, who deep in their hearts, must have known that they needed her.

Ruby focused on the woman holding her hand, behind her and a little to the left. The woman who, Ruby knew, was adorably biting her lip as she stared at the back of Ruby's head with that gaze of complete confidence. That gaze Ruby could never let down.

Ruby's eyes began to burn.

It wasn't painful, like heat. It wasn't _powerful_ or _liberating_ , words Yang had used to describe her old semblance. It was peace. It was calm. It was the assurance everything would work out in the end.

Ruby opened her eyes again and shared that feeling with the world. A wave of silver spread from her, crashing against the walls, flowing through the beds and the figures strapped to them. It passed through bodies, pulling out a lattice of black lines, framing their centers and sketching up their limbs. Once outside the confines of their aura, the darkness disintegrated like ash.

Then the wave was done, and the room was silent.

In time they would come back to themselves. Most had been blighted for under a day. They were still mostly whole. They would thank, and fawn, and cry. Some would be ashamed. A few would shut down, unable to process what they'd experienced. Occasionally, one would ask how Ruby was holding up.

Ruby didn't need that attention today. She left the silent room the same way she came, giving the guards at the door a thumbs up. Then she let Neo lead her upstairs, even though she knew the way. Most time with Neo was quiet, even now. One had to learn to appreciate that about her. To understand what was meant by silence.

The floor guard curtsied and handed Ruby her keyring, so she unlocked Roman's room and went inside.

Neo may have been right, but if Roman was worse, it wasn't visible to Ruby's eyes. "Hello, Red. What are you doing here?" Still the same Torchwick, his hair a bit whiter. He shot a glare at Neo. "I didn't ask for you to come."

Neo didn't defend herself. Even with two people she could talk to, both at once was sometimes too much. Ruby expressed her instead. "Neo says you're bad. Says you might need healing."

"Blake spent four minutes and forty two seconds in a room with me yesterday," Roman answered. "Nearly five minutes. So close to five minutes, just thinking with me. The leaps and bounds our little kitty's made."

"Is it time?" asked Ruby. She held up a hand, coalescing power, wrapping it in aura, sealing it tight. A ball of silver poured out onto her palm. Roman watched it with a hunger.

Then he shook his head. "It hasn't even been a year yet. Barely a month." He strained, black lines moving under his skin. "Now leave. You know my purpose."

Some blighted, when free, fled north. Roman's type stayed in the city. They damaged infrastructure, sabotaged the military, or tried to kill Ruby.

Or sat in a chair in front of her, refusing.

Ruby extinguished her light. "I've seen Blake get stronger, too. She'll need that strength when more blighted come." Neo nodded along with her words. "Thank you for what you're doing."

"Go!" the man ordered, pointing at the door. Neo flinched back. Ruby nodded and opened the door, allowing Neo to scamper through. Then Ruby returned the keyring and the women walked down the stairs together.

"I'm sorry I can't help him," Ruby told Neo.

Neo got out her scroll. Maybe she was too shaken to speak. ʜᴇ ɪs sᴇʟғʟᴇss.

"Will he last?" asked Ruby. "Until we ask again?"

ɪᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ʜɪs ғᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏʀʀɪᴇs ᴍᴇ.

Ruby sighed. "This is it. This was the last day."

Whatever had stolen Neo's voice was gone. "Worry about us," Neo told her. "Mistral won't fall before we get back. So long as we get back."

"I wish I could tell them why," Ruby whispered. "I wish I could let them know. See them understand."

"They'll know," Neo answered. "When it happens, they'll all know."

And then she smiled.


	72. Everyone's a Hero

**Everyone's a Hero**

Sun desired peace.

Peace in the world. Peace in his family. Peace at his school. They vied for priority in his brain, along with other goals. Having fun. Cute girls. One cute girl in particular. Trying not to let his imagination run away with itself. Wondering what that girl was seeing inside of his head as it very graphically did so.

"You're failing weapons maintenance?" asked Blake. She knew the answer. It was a necessary step to guide the conversation where it needed to go. Most people frowned upon being told what they would decide and kicked out.

"I, uh, yeah." _Relax, Sun. I had to get used to those almost instantly._ "Professor Nova doesn't like me very much." A true statement, just as true as his knowledge that he was failing because he built a weapon more complicated than he could fix.

"Stay in school, Sun."

Desire. Intimacy. Adventure. Agency. But not power in its other forms, which was nice. "Why can't I help you here?"

"I didn't quit school because I wanted to. My school was destroyed." Not that Blake had been receiving unsatisfactory marks in anything at the time. "And I can't afford to enroll in Haven, what with spending four hours a day growing crops and another two maintaining the vinewall. My predecessor literally worked herself to death." Not literally. But it made a much more convenient story. And it wasn't like Shell had been on the road to recovery. Yang...

Yang was fuzzy, at the edge of Blake's range. She was too busy to focus on her crime, but her mind remained unsettled. Blake was distracting herself again. "If Mistral needs you," she continued, "if Remnant needs you, it will need you at your best. Keep learning."

"Yeah, well, I'm not ask you you about what Mistral needs," Sun pressed. "What about what you need?" What about what I need, he wondered.

"I don't need anything you can provide." Yang got excited seeing the name on the screen. "Now stay quiet, I'm getting a call." She pressed a button on her desk phone. "Hello?"

Sun looked, and felt, hurt. That was all right. Blake was relearning how to say no. It would get easier in time, she hoped.

The voice on the other end was less hurt than angry. "Miss Belladonna, I don't know how things worked in the _white fang_ ," the man spit out the name like an insult, "but the Mistral Council does not shuffle authority around quite so lightly. As council chairman, I have signed paperwork contesting your demand for channel control when"

"Gotta run, Rob." It was much easier to insult people over the phone. Worlds easier, when their pain and negativity weren't shared. And Yang's burst of anxiety could only mean one thing. "Have to prepare for uptime. And it's Hunt Commander Belladonna."

"Hold on, you can't" _Click._

"In my defense," Blake told Sun, "he does tend to drone on. And we _are_ actually ready for uptime. Could you grab that camera in the corner?"

"Grab your..." Blake was already pointing to the corner of her office. Sun looked over and got up.

Even before maidenhood Blake had been speeding up, taking control; she simply wanted to be _done_ with things like conversations as soon as she started them. Now she moved through conversations too quickly for others to process. She'd realized it more afterwards, of course. Nobody had ever said anything to her. She hadn't realized the scope.

"Place it in the middle there, and frame me. No, one foot back. Power button. Other side. Good. Thank you. Stay out of frame, please." The red light blinked on. "Yang, get closer," Blake said into the camera.

Yang pushed her chair a few feet around her desk, solidly into Blake's range. "Perfect." Blake yanked her bow's knot and let it fall onto her desk. Probably Sun's remote desire. "Ready when you are."

Yang was getting more and more nervous. Blake felt her press the button, and she was live.

"Hello, Remnant," Blake spoke. "My name is Blake Belladonna, Hunt Commander of Mistral. I've overseen the repair of our CCT since it was damaged by Cinder Fall and other allies of the grimm. I am here to give knowledge and warning. Some of this you will already know." Yang's eyes scanned the words, and Blake's mouth recited them. Blake couldn't trick her brain into remembering things it actively recalled as though it knew them, so retention was off the table. She would have to watch a recording later and see what she said.

"The grimm's progenitors have created a new breed and released them into the world from a location in the unsettled lands north of mistral. They are small, they can fly, and they can penetrate aura. If they embed themselves into a person, they can take control. Such people will be made to commit acts of violence and sabotage. There is no cure Mistral can offer you. The grimm die in direct sunlight. Placing the affected individuals in sunlight appears to weaken or slow the control.

"We are on our back feet. Humanity has few weapons that can stand up to this assault." Blake had worked with Yang on how to hide specifics from the blighted watching. "Please, spend what resources you can protecting your people.

"Keep fighting. Mistral is with you. We are not defeated." Yang, reading the end of the speech, cut the feed. Blake let out a long sigh.

Sun was still staring at her. Blake wanted to ask how she performed, but she could already see what he thought. The answer, apparently, involved Sun himself and various graphic activities. Blake wanted to blame him, but Yang was still in range, and her impressions of Blake _also_ involved herself and graphic activities. At least Blake didn't give into _every_ remote desire.

Instead, Blake dug through Yang's mind for her contacts. "To help, call Jaune Arc," she told the hunter. "Here's his number. Tell him when you're not busy with weapon maintenance." She wrote it down and handed it over.

"I feel like you're blowing me off."

"I'm sorry." Blake meant it. But she didn't have time for people. Didn't like interacting with people. She got enough shame from being near them, why had she guilted herself into seeing him after a text exchange? "We all have our responsibilities."

"looks to me like that speech wasn't your job. You did it anyway, because you wanted to."

Blake got up, walked around her desk, then past Sun to the door.

"You're right." Blake opened the door for him. "I did."


	73. Can't Say What I Mean

**Can't Say What I Mean**

Nubu cracked open the door and entered the atrium. Lie Ren, the traitor, followed her in.

"Wait here," she suggested. "I will find them." They were expected. Nubu was acting like the lack of reception was expected too. She glided up the stairs and left useless Ren to sit on one of the ornate carved benches, as his abilities warranted.

He hadn't realized this much space still existed in Mistral, inside the vinewall at least. With so many millions in each square mile, the city felt full to bursting. But even after the government reapportioning, money still mattered. It was what untrustworthy Ren and beautiful Nubukha were counting on. Nubukha. Nubu.

Damn.

"Come upstairs, Master Ren." Nubu's light, melodic voice drifted down the stairs. Using formal language meant she was cautious about being overheard. Not that she respected him. No. She _did_ respect him. She _did_ trust him. It was sometimes hard to remember. He started up the stairs. There was only one path.

There was a single, short hallway upstairs. Perhaps the apartment wasn't quite as huge as it had seemed. Stupid Ren tailed Nubu into a large bedroom, where her parents waited, sitting on a loveseat in front of a table. They had a disheveled look to them, like most these days, but their clothing was as upscale as the apartment. The mother looked curious, the father stern.

Nubu's father looked at Ren. "You need something from me."

Ren took a deep breath. He was too slow to recall the correct phrasings. Too inarticulate to move the man. The best he could hope for was trite in a way that reminded his audience of other speakers, competent ones. Ones that could inspire. "Mister Nikos, humanity needs you."

"My family is strained to breaking, and you've attacked me with my own daughter, brought here to tear down what peace we have left." His eyes narrowed. "All of this, for my money."

"Pyrrha's money," whispered Nubu.

Both adults moved their gaze from unimportant Ren to the girl. Her mother opened her mouth to speak.

"It's Pyrrha's money," Nubu repeated, louder. "Most of it. And we don't need most. Only ten thousand."

"Only ten thousand," repeated the father. " _Only_."

"Yes, only," Nubu agreed. She seemed to be picking up steam. Doing what Ren couldn't. "It's half what you offered for strangers to kidnap me. Master Ren brought me home." A triumphant smile flashed across her mouth. "Pay him."

He stood and shoved the table aside, closing the gap to his daughter in one stride. Then he slapped her across the cheek. Or would've, if Ren hadn't kicked him into the wall.

Or Ren would've, if Nubu hadn't punched him in the jaw first.

Ren wanted to be disappointed that he failed, but he was far too busy swooning. He settled for self-debasing admiration of the girl. The woman. That no-nonsense punch... It was _just_ what Nora would do, excepting a laugh and some hollering.

Ren cursed his disloyalty. Was his heart not enough? Would he steal Nora's personality from her too, leaving her with nothing? After all she'd done? All he'd pledged?

Her father stumbled back into his seat, while her mother leapt from hers. "Nub!" She shouted. "That is completely unacceptable!"

"I have as much a right to it as you. Her team has as much a right. _Our_ team." Ren stepped closer as Nubu spoke. Was presenting a unified front trite? Probably. It might hurt her case to be associated with him. Too late now. "If you don't want to go broke, either humanity wins this war and reconquers the estates, or I get famous. They're both long shots, but neither is happening unfunded."

"Neither is happening," agreed her father, rubbing his chin. "Here is what will happen. I will give you eight thousand and you will visit in two weeks, _alone,_ and make this up to me."

They only needed five. Asking for ten... had it been Ren's idea? "Thank you, Father," Nubu answered. "Please fill my account by tonight. Goodbye." She curtsied, turned around, and strode from the room. Ren, the laggard, jogged behind her. He was the same height, he shouldn't need to do that.

She kept the pace up until she left the penthouse unit entirely. Then she crumpled into a wall and stood leaning against it. Ren saw tears on her face.

"I am sorry for your father," Ren said, one of his standard useless statements of the obvious.

"It's fine." She smiled through her tears. "I meant what I said. Pyrrha is gone. I'm the Nikos scion. I need to believe it, in here." Instead of her breastplate, she touched Ren's shirt, in the center of his chest.

"I believe you are capable of amazing things," Ren told her. Certainly more amazing than those around her.

"I also believe she would want me to move on." Nubu looked up from her finger on Ren's chest to his face. Her eyes were the most beautiful things Ren had ever seen. "And be happy."

Ren couldn't respond.

"They both would," she continued.

"Thank you," Ren forced out through a tight throat. His mind did its best to believe her. And he hoped a distant hope his heart would soon follow suit.

Ideally, before she wised up and found somebody better.


	74. Lifeforms

****Lifeforms****

It was hard to believe that the CCT was up, maybe even up to stay. Thirteen hours and counting, and Weiss's scroll was still silent. Only calls from Colonel Amblik, Regional Director Vuk, Sinnika, and a few merchants - all local. It was easy to believe that Atlas couldn't communicate when it was taking over half a day to hear from father. Undoubtedly he'd heard of her odyssey advocating for the company, quitting, and then quietly rejoining. It wasn't behavior she expected to make sense from the outside. With more foresight... but some things can't be predicted. Ruby Rose foremost among them.

The buzzing grew again. Weiss dropped to her knees and placed three glyphs above her, each overlapping the others and cutting into the ground. The swarm appeared seconds later, ghostly in the shattered moonlight. They flowed through the air as a mass, heading straight for Weiss's pyramid of light.

Then the grimm hit. There weren't many, a few hundred, and most swerved to avoid the glyphs. She absorbed the momentums of the others, who either bounced away to rejoin the flock or cracked their carapaces and fell, smoking, to the ground. The swarm itself split into two, the grimm passing to the right of her heading straight towards inner city while the grimm to her left peeled off to head back through the outerlands. They turned a corner one block away and left Weiss's sight. Their actions were maddeningly inconclusive. Even with all of Mistral's data, Weiss couldn't predict the appearance or movement of the beetles.

The swarm heading for the inner city, perhaps one hundred beetles, buzzed happily along for two blocks until they neared the vinewall, which unknit itself and shot vines out like whips. Looking closely, Weiss could see the wall reforming itself, distorting in other places, to move a second layer in behind the active vines. The grimm were lashed from the air by the dozens, their bodies striking the pavement in overlapping snaps that blended together into white noise. The beetles kept flying higher. Weiss followed them with her eyes.

The Argent and her girl crested the vinewall, emitting a faint silver glow in the night. Even from here, Weiss could tell Neo was enjoying every moment in Ruby's arms. The huntress floated gently down, the last surviving beetles flying into her and evaporating as they touched her silver aura, leaving no trace. Of _course_ Ruby would suggest meeting in the wilds. For her, it just meant privacy. She was _still_ such a child. A child that was a better person than Weiss, was all.

Weiss finally remembered to lapse her glyphs as Ruby floated towards her. Neo lifted her head, transitioning from recreation to sentry duty. When Ruby set down in front of Weiss, Neo jumped away to scout the area.

"Thank you for everything you've done to help," Ruby began her farewell speech.

Couldn't let _that_ go on. "You're quite welcome." Weiss gave her a wry smile. "You may find I've gone above and beyond this time. First, I got this." Weiss handed the umbrella over to Ruby, who popped it open. "Whole pile of upgrades. You know, since her last one got melted."

"And the rest is around here somewhere?" Ruby gave the abandoned buildings around them a glance.

"Sort of." Weiss paused. "I made a few alterations to the packing list. I think you'll like them."

"What _kind_ of alterations?"

Weiss shrugged, although Ruby may have missed it in the dim light. "The substantial kind."

Both turned to Neo, stomping around a corner towards them. She'd found it. Weiss had to butter Ruby up fast. "Ruby. How would you like to get to the fair folk two whole weeks earlier than you'd planned?"

To her credit, Ruby understood immediately. "I can't fly anything, Weiss."

Neo mashed her fingers on her scroll and held it up, glaring. ʙᴜʟʟʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇᴅ.

"Faster than a car, faster than walking, and certainly faster than that silver glide you have."

"Weiss, I thought we settled this. It has to be just Neo and me. I can't risk anybody else."

"Be a hero and slay the monsters. We all know your story, Ruby. And hers." Weiss nodded to Neo, even now watching Ruby for approval. "Did you ever think that some of us need to save others, too?" That others have something to prove, something to make them not _father's good girl._ Or even _father's bad girl._ "Or that I made a promise to myself that I'd see this through? See _you_ through to the end?

" _Everything_ I did for you. I took my old post just to stay out of mindshot of Blake. Supplies. Logistics. I made your dream into reality, Ruby. The _first_ thing we settled was that you were the leader and I was the follower. Remember? _Let me follow you._ "

ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ sᴜʀᴇ ᴡᴇɪss ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅs ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ/ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴅʏɴᴀᴍɪᴄ, typed Neo.

"Oh, you be quiet," suggested Weiss. Rather fruitlessly."Also, I can't fly a bullhead either, so I'm bringing a pilot."

"Absolutely not," ordered Ruby. Neo began typing some more, so Weiss yanked the umbrella from Ruby's hands and thrust it towards the woman. Her eyes widened and she reached out to take it, dropping her scroll. _Hopefully, that takes care of her._

"Bullheads are complicated, and the best I can do is watch a laid-in course. I spent all that money on a craft capable of nonstop flight. Trust me. This is about the fate of the world."

"I can't bring some civilian with me to battle the magical beings that made the grimm."

Aha. Ruby had moved from complaining about Weiss, to complaining about the pilot. Progress. "Ruby, what happens if you lose this fight?"

"I _won't_ lose it," she objected.

"You're right." Weiss picked up the thread. "We _won't_. Because the fate of all four kingdoms depend on our success. We _have_ to win, because if we lose, it won't matter whether one civilian spent her last few months making a difference or running errands for the SDC."

Neo found a spot on her belt for a second umbrella and picked her scroll back up. Then she re-pocketed it, threw her old umbrella away, took the scroll back out, and typed ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ғʟʏ ᴀ ʙᴜʟʟʜᴇᴀᴅ.

"Good," said Weiss and Ruby in unison.

"You got me," admitted Weiss. "I didn't know Neo could fly bullheads. We can leave the pilot."

"Good," repeated Ruby, bemused. "Wait, something's wrong."

"Come on." Weiss started around the corner, waving the other two on. "Let's tell Sinnika. We'll drop her off in the city before we leave."


	75. Endless Dream

**Endless Dream**

 _Hey, Summer. Summer. Hey, Summer. That's pretty funny._

"It's being cagey," the chalk woman said, removing the grimm from Pilo's chest. "We'll need to isolate not the trust, but the quadrant itself."

Pilo stopped screaming.

 _That was fun, wasn't it Summer? But I don't need to do it again. Summer, I get it. But it's time to stop. Tell me where to go._

"She's babbling again." The chalk man leaned in, his glowing red eyes filling Pilo's vision. "Planning an escape."

"She won't get far," reassured the woman. "Fall is giving, with those orders she loves. Spring is having, the minds of those around her. Summer is taking. The important part, at least. The part we need to draw."

 _Summer? They're not stopping. Please, Summer. I know we like to play, but you have to think about the future. It will be much easier to get me out while I still have a leg._

"That leaves the last one." They stopped paying attention to Pilo again. "Do we know her powers? No records in my notes."

 _And yes, I know you love a challenge. We've overcome so much together, we really have. This is nothing, I know it. Summer. Please. Please, Summer._

"The fourth quadrant isn't adjacent. Relax, the old man didn't build them _that_ complex."

The man took out another tiny grimm and held his hand above it. Pilo tried and tried again to copy the black and red mist seeping from his hand to the bug, but every time her insides remained as empty as the last. Summer was still there, though, even if she was silent. Where else could she be?

"Are you ready for the live trial?" asked the man.

 _Summer..._

"Give it a burst and check for green. Then we'll try the real thing."

 _Summer, please!_

The man walked back to Pilo's table and placed the beetle over her collarbone. It spit tar onto her chest, which burned as it sank through her aura, into her chest.

"Summer!" Pilo screamed. "Help!" She squeezed her eye shut.

"Green, Ma'am," the man shouted to the woman.

"Live trial," the chalk woman shouted back, picking the beetle up and moving somewhere into Pilo's blind spot.

Pilo stopped screaming.

 _You know, Summer, usually I see what you're trying to do. Sometimes it takes a while to see it. But I don't. I've tried so hard this time and I don't see what you want from me. It hurts, Summer. Why can't I leave?_

The man left the room. The woman circled the table into Pilo's line of sight and smiled. "You still think it's going to save you."

Pilo smiled, cracking a lip. "Summer always saves me."

The woman smiled, too. "You're alone here. Your better half is in hiding. And all that we've done to you hasn't been enough to draw her back. Yet."

"Summer is here. Summer is always here. We're never apart." _That_ was why Pilo would escape. The chalk woman didn't understand. Pilo was _special_ to Summer. They were a team. If Pilo was still here it was because Summer wanted her to be. She didn't get it, but it was the truth.

The chalk woman ran her fingertips down Pilo's cheek. "Darling, if your Summer had been here, you wouldn't have had to endure a thing. You could still be..." She retracted the hand. "Whole."

Then she made a fist and brought it down on one of Pilo's fingers, splayed and strapped to the table. Bones broke.

Pilo screamed.

"Thought so." The woman turned around and busied herself with her notes, written in unfamiliar script. Not that reading was so important. Summer told Pilo when she needed to know something. Summer, who had brought Pilo here for a reason. Summer always had a reason. A greater purpose.

A reason it was worthwhile.

The man strode back into the room. Behind him came another. Pilo copied her before she even recognized who.

Specialist Winter, eyes downcast, followed the man with resignation in her step.

But that didn't make sense. This semblance, it was so interesting! Endless twists and turns bringing Pilo anywhere she wanted. The sheer force of possibility almost outweighed all of the pain in Pilo's body. For a second, she could forget it all, and pretend she was standing back in Atlas somewhere.

Why had she ever left?

"Hold out your hand," the chalk woman told Winter. An open palm and a pulsing of black lines were the only response she got. The woman placed the beetle in Winter's arms.

Summer warmed. Pilo's eye widened.

 _Summer! What is it?_ Explanations could wait. Recriminations could wait. There wasn't much time. _What do I do?_

Pilo looked around the room. Chalk man, cool. Chalk woman, cooler. Winter, cold.

Pilo looked down at her own body. Summer warmed.

 _So I can use this semblance to fix myself._

Summer cooled. Winter stepped up to Pilo.

 _I don't fix myself._

Summer warmed. Winter held the grimm above Pilo's head, facing into her eye.

 _Then how do I get out?_

"I'm sorry," whispered Winter, crying.

Summer froze in Pilo's veins. Despite the warmth of the room, she felt like she was standing naked in the middle of an Atlas winter. Pilo began to shiver. Glyphs appeared. Pilo was making them.

The grimm spit its tar across her face.

It was _so cold…_


	76. Flak

**Flak**

"You are my friend and I love you," Ruby had told her, months back. "I love you," Ruby had said six times this week alone. "You've made my life better." "Save me." "It will be all right."

Neo was special to Ruby. Maybe not how Ruby was special to Neo; she was trying to accept that. But she was special nonetheless. They had a bond. They were a unit. Together, they were powerful. Complete.

No bullhead could compare to that bond, not even a multi-room SDC model closer to an airship. And neither could an umbrella.

Spinning her chair away from the controls, Neo fired the canopy across the bridge, before retracting it with the central chain. Yes, it was a _very_ slick umbrella. She fired it again.

"Hey!" shouted Weiss, dodging back into the doorway as the canopy shot past. "Be careful with that, you clod!"

Neo sighed. _Then don't sneak up on people while they're..._ What was Neo doing? _While they're training?_ She retracted the canopy. ɪ ᴀᴘᴏʟᴏɢɪᴢᴇ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ. The buttons all lay exactly where she rested her fingers. Weiss had never measured Neo's hand, at least not while she was awake. But _that_ seemed farfetched.

She wasn't sneaky _._ She was just... insidious. Impossible to be rid of. Capable of getting inside a person's head. With gifts, or...

"Hm." Weiss gave a curt nod. "Just see that it doesn't happen again. I understand that you want to play." Her gaze slid across the panels behind Neo's chair. "Some people find responsibility... confining." Responsibility had been a refrain with Weiss as long as Neo had known her. Funny, for the woman juggling the largest kingdom in the world with the end of said world. "We're making good time?"

ᴡᴇ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴏʀᴅɪɴᴀᴛᴇs ʙʏ ɴɪɢʜᴛғᴀʟʟ.

"Good." Weiss licked her lips and averted her gaze. "I misjudged you, Neopolitan. I thought... That doesn't matter. You've left it all behind you, haven't you?"

Weiss was clearly too stubborn to ask what she wanted answered, so Neo skipped the middleman. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ʀᴜʙʏ ʀᴏsᴇ ɪɴᴛᴏ ʜᴇʟʟ.

"Well. You do have a flair for drama." She didn't ask another question. Clearly, Neo had guessed correctly. "Just as clear, you don't like me. Explain yourself."

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴏᴡ ɪ ғᴇᴇʟ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ.

"I assume loathing makes your list."

Neo began to type.

"Are you... are you actually writing a list?"

Neo held up her scroll, and Weiss stepped closer. The font size had reduced to fit her message on-screen. ʀᴜʙʏ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ. ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴜs. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴏᴡ ɪ ғᴇᴇʟ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜʏ.

"I..." Weiss's single confident syllable was followed by silence and a pointed finger. "I don't know what that light means."

Neo swiveled her chair back to the controls, where a light above the environmental imaging board blinked quietly. The board's last refresh had found an airborne presence.

ɢʀɪᴍᴍ

"Should we wake Ruby?"

Ruby could destroy grimm with little more than a glance.

ɴᴏ. Neo throttled the ship down to a stop. Thirty seconds until contact if the grimm didn't slow, and it wasn't going to. She got up and walked past Weiss, out of the room to the cabin door. Ruby needed her sleep. Deserved it.

"Fine then." Weiss followed her over and slapped the release. "Let's take care of it." A nevermore was visible in the moonlight. About the size of a standard bullhead. Smaller than this one. Still capable of damage.

ᴄᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ sʟᴏᴡ ɪᴛ?

"You may not need me." The nevermore dove for the ship, then slammed into a black glyph appearing fifteen feet from the craft. "But you can use me."

Neo shot her umbrella's canopy through the glyph past the creature's head, then pressed the button to open it. Then she retracted it and was lifted off her feet when the canopy hooked on the grimm's horn.

 _Don't look down._ They were about two hundred feet up. As long as she kept hold of her umbrella, she could float to safety. The beast opened its mouth and screeched, possibly waking Ruby.

Then Neo passed through the glyph and into the creature's mouth. _I can use this._ A few button presses and the canopy snaked into the mouth to join her.

The nevermore closed its beak, so Neo popped the blade from her umbrella and stabbed upwards. Again and again and again and again. The monster's tongue pressed up on her, which only increased the power of her strikes.

Then the tongue went limp. Neo felt herself start to fall. _Perhaps I didn't think this through._

She tried to pry open the mouth, but it was surprisingly stubborn for a corpse. She stood on her toes and strained, and a crack let her see the bullhead rising out of view.

 _Can't float down inside here._ Neo fired her canopy. It shot towards the bullhead's landing strut, and she opened it at its zenith. It didn't reach.

A white glyph appeared around it, and the chain went taut. Neo placed both hands on the handle and squeezed as the nevermore beak grabbed her and pulled. She strained. Her aura drained.

Until the nevermore was washed away in a wave of light from above. Neo retracted the chain and shot past her canopy's glyph anchor to the bullhead. Ruby reached out the cabin door and pulled her in.

 _Fine. That was stupid._ The woman had made her point. Neo gave Ruby a hug and a quick kiss to quiet her cooing before turning to Weiss and bracing for her comeuppance.

"I need you," Weiss told her, unflinching.

Neo scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. Ruby placed a supporting hand on her shoulder.

"I need responsibilities. But I need to commit to them. I need a leader I can choose to follow. I need team RWBY." Weiss slapped the door control closed before continuing. "Structure. Responsibility. Trust. You two trust me enough to let me invite myself along, because I know I'll do good. I trust Ruby Rose enough to know I'll do good when she tells me how.

"We may only be Team Rowan right now, but it'll do. Satisfy my needs, Neo."

"Wake me if there's more," Ruby said without judgement. Then she nodded at the pair and exited the room. Neo watched her go.

"...Even if I'm keeping you from satisfying one of yours."

Neo glared. Weiss smiled that smile the self-important get when they're right.


	77. You

****You****

The world shook. "Yang! Yang!" Cried a voice. Not cloying or idolizing like Ruby. Urgent.

Yang snapped her eyes open and started to freeze her arm on. "What is... what's going-"

She found it hard to say more as her face was pressed into Blake's nightshirt. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank god you're still here!"

"Whuv vhoing ah?" asked Yang, unsuccessfully.

"After the note I thought you'd left. And then when you hadn't and you were here... but you're alive." Blake loosened her hug, letting Yang take a breath.

 _So that's what that's like._ "I don't understand." _Appreciate the affection, yes. But I don't understand it._ What did Blake make of Yang's mind now? "Note?"

"Ruby," answered the maiden. "She's gone with Neo. They're going to save the world. She... wanted to tell you."

But not tell Blake. And any knowledge in Yang's mind would be fair game. _Ruby's gone?_ "Why?" Again?

"Because she said we'll wear out until we break, and she wanted to make a move while she had the strength. And Ruby was right. Neo said if I learned about it I would make them take me, and she was right too."

Ruby, of course, would be fine. What other choice was there? "No. You wouldn't have left Mistral defenseless, you dummy."

"Yang, I will do whatever I can to make this end. Even if it means letting Mistral die. Vacuo is just happy the beetles die in the sun, Ozpin organized building-proofing in Vale, and Atlas had reduced grimm numbers for whatever reason. Humanity can survive with any of the three. It _won't_ survive if Ruby and Neo fail. Or if they take too long to succeed."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Well, _I'm_ in Mistral."

"I'd take you along too, dummy. After..." Blake paused. "I won't lose you."

Yang crossed her arms. "Weiss is in Mistral."

"You're going to keep naming people all morning if I let you, aren't you?"

Blake could play cold as much as she wanted, but she would do the right thing when it came down to it. Especially if, yes, she never had a chance to do the wrong one. "I might."

Blake sighed, turning to sit on the edge of the bed. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'll need a statement for the council. What will we do about the sanitarium?"

Yang poked her legs off of the bed and sat next to Blake."Oh great and all-powerful maiden of spring, can I shower before I save the city?"

Blake ran a hand through her own hair. "I haven't showered either. Does it add to my aura of brash authority?"

Yang threw an icy arm around her shoulders. Blake was still perfect, and Yang knew that Blake knew that Yang thought it. "If you talk to the council in person, you might be able to intimidate them through smell," she conceded. The conversation felt wrong, even besides the news about Ruby. But comfortable. Maybe Yang was too tired to straighten it out.

"I'm not... I'm not good enough," Blake whispered. "More and more are flying over the vinewall. I can't grow it. I could spend all day trying, but I'm run dry."

"Blake, you got all your statistics from _my_ beautiful brain," Yang answered. "Sure, more grimm sightings, but blighting within the perimeter is going down daily. If the rate doesn't flatten, we'll be statistically fine in a year or two."

"How many blighted do you suppose we'll have in a year or two?" Blake stared straight through Yang's eyes.

"Three, four hundred thousand?" guessed Yang. It was too early in the morning for math. "Depends what the curve does. Maybe half, maybe triple."

"So, how do you suppose ten million people keep over a million blighted in captivity without them escaping or destroying the place? They get to me, that's endgame." Blake shivered. "All of Mistral is fair game."

Yang leaned closer. "We won't have to, because Ruby will be fine without us."

Blake slipped from Yang's arm and stood up. "Good. Write that down, we'll edit after breakfast. Do we have time for breakfast?"

Yang spread her arms and flopped back down onto her bed. "What if we don't tell them?"

"Come on, Yang, you think they won't notice the missing argent?"

"Maybe they won't connect it to us?"

"I'm the green goddess." Blake was through the door, in the kitchen. "Everything is my fault."

Yang got out of bed and followed her through the doorway. Blake seemed honest and unusually grateful. Time to take a little risk. "Mind if I join you in that shower?"

"I don't think that results in faster showers, Yang." Blake looked her up and down. "But... no."

Yang's smile lasted only a second before another thought came to her. "So, why did you think I was missing? Or dead?"

Blake shrugged, pulling off her nightshirt and opening the bathroom door. "Couldn't hear your mind. Still can't. Weird, right? But nice."

A thought came to Yang. " _The minds of maidens are excised from their own province," Tahki explained. "Although such strife portends much ill."_

The thought came to her, but Yang was very aware that she didn't think it.

"You coming?" Blake stood nude in the bathroom doorway.

"I have to lie down," Yang managed.

 _Who else is in here?_

It didn't have to tell her the answer.


	78. Dead City

**Dead City**

"I have to leave," Ruby told her. "Tell me you want me to stay."

Neo opened her mouth and gasped.

"I can't follow where your path leads," the huntress told her. "Please. Tell me we can work. That it can be better."

Neo ran towards her, but it was like moving through glue. Ruby's body darkened and merged into the night, until only her face was visible, filling her vision. Then it lightened into a familiar shade. The pallor of death.

Neo lifted her head from the controls and blinked sleep from her eyes. She was flying the bullhead. The bullhead had Ruby on it. Ruby was with her. Weiss too, but Ruby was with her. Ruby loved her. Ruby was with her. There was nothing to worry about.

Neo awoke to a city.

On a second look, not a full city. A town. The buildings were mostly wood, with thatch roofs, many unfinished. A few people looked up at the bullhead. Squinting in the late afternoon sun, probably, but their faces were too far away to tell. All that was visible were their utilitarian, homemade outfits.

She slapped off the proximity alarms and began angling for a landing. These were the coordinates, no question about it. Neo never got a full picture from Ruby, but what she knew didn't really point to the area being populated.

"What was that? We're landing?" Ruby peeked her head into the bridge. Neo pointed down, so Ruby ran up to her chair and leaned over the controls. "This is the spot?"

ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ sᴘᴏᴛ, Neo answered, bringing the bullhead low over the town square.

"Something's wrong." Neo got up and hugged her. "Oh hey, you're... This is nice. But do you need to finish landing?"

Neo left the ship first, at her insistence. She kept her umbrella in a moderate guard against the villagers ringing the square. Ruby followed, eyes sweeping the crowd. Weiss stood in the hatchway and watched them.

Ahead of Neo, the crowd parted, and three people approached. The one in front was an older man in a suit Neo didn't recognize. Behind him and to his right was Cinder Fall. On his other side was a tall, white-haired woman wearing a dark cloak with the hood down.

"Winter!" shouted Weiss, bounding from the ship and past a shocked Ruby. _Have I heard that name? Some relation? They look similar..._

Neo held out an arm and clotheslined Weiss as she passed. The huntress's feet swung in front of her body before her back smacked into the dirt. Neo stepped forward to guard her while she recovered. None of the three newcomers, nor the crowd around them, made a move while she got to her feet. Neo placed a palm on Weiss's shoulder, warning her to stay put.

Cinder smiled. "Ruby Rose, let's talk. By now you should know what happens when you burn away entrenched Blighting." Like Raven, the Xiao Long mother. "I would advise you not to use your powers here, unless you enjoy killing."

Giving Raven to Ruby, had that been planned? No, not a chance. Cinder was making the most of what she knew. She knew that Ruby would want to avoid death, even the death of those that were already trapped, already dead. Even though, with Neo and a Schnee at her back, she'd be able to defeat the maiden.

"Why?" asked Ruby. "Why fight me? They _made_ the grimm. They want to destroy us all. You're free, Cinder. Why are you on their side?"

"Winter," Weiss whimpered.

"Do not presume your view is the only one that makes sense," Cinder cautioned. "Do not presume you know the truth of things. I am fighting to end this war, and I hope to do so..." She paused. "Peacefully."

"Run," choked out Winter, a black spiderweb of lines playing over her face.

"Enslaving people and forcing them to kill _can't_ be right," insisted Ruby, walking between Neo and Weiss. "Grimm can't be right."

"Follow." Cinder smiled. "Salem wants to speak with you, argent. Your friends won't be harmed." Salem. Neo had heard the name.

Neo grabbed ahold of Ruby's sleeve. No _way_ was she leaving Ruby alone.

"We'll stay together, if that's all the same to you," Ruby said, grabbing Weiss's hand. "And we'll take Winter as an act of good faith. She hasn't been blighted long." Of course. Emerald had mentioned Salem. Defeated by the horrors she'd seen, the woman had killed Mercury in a futile attempt to outrun her past. Had she turned when she saw the fair folk creating the blighting beetles to enslave humanity? Or had there been something else, something worse?

"Winter is not mine to give." Cinder turned around, Winter and the silent man aping her movement. "Sorry, Silver. More reason to speak with Salem. She's quite accommodating." They began to walk away.

"Hold it!" Weiss found her voice and, apparently, her indignation. "Where are you going?"

"You came this far to see the fair city. Were you planning to stop now?"

Ruby's first step pulled her sleeve from Neo's grasp. Slowly, robotically, she began to follow. Neo and Weiss joined her. Scattered onlookers did as well, an assortment of the villagers ringing the square breaking off to walk with them. Neo couldn't see any pattern in who moved and who stayed.

Cinder led the group to a small hole in the ground and walked down into it. There were stairs, carved from rock. She conjured a ball of flame and took them into the earth, Winter and the old man following. Keeping the blighted behind her as a shield.

As Ruby stepped into the stairwell herself, Neo held up her scroll. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛᴇᴅ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ᴜs. Weiss could use glyphs to cut off escape. It would be the perfect spot to end Cinder's threat.

"Neo..." Ruby frowned. Her lip was quivering in the darkness. She looked beautiful. _Stop thinking that._ "I don't _like_ killing. I don't want to..."

They followed Cinder's flame further inside. Silhouettes of villagers appeared in the rectangle of sky behind them, one by one by one, until the stairs behind them were packed.

"...If there's a chance we can talk this out, I want to take it. I'm sorry, Neo. And don't worry, Weiss. We'll get Winter back."

Weiss followed her leader.

Neo followed her lover.

Down they went.


	79. Quagmire

**Quagmire**

"So." Yang spoke to her closed door. "I can't just get rid of you."

 _Yang stood tall, though her posturing couldn't fool the woman next to her. She squeezed Blake's hand as the vines wove themselves tight across the street in front of them, forming into a wall. Blake would know it didn't mean_ everything will be alright. _Yang would simply let it communicate,_ I'm with you.

Fatalism. Yang was the maiden of summer to stay.

"You're planning to take over my life, then. To control what I do. Make me work for your convoluted plans."

" _Hush, Ruby." Yang pulled the blanket across the wagon, until it covered her sister up to her neck. "We're looking for mom. Another mom. You'll see."_

Determination. Bossiness. The Souls of Summer had claimed her.

"What happened to Pilo?"

 _Blake threw the curtain aside to reveal the body that had once held Sylvia. Maiden of Spring. Trusted adviser. Best friend. She turned back to Yang, and Yang saw reflected in those eyes her pain and confusion._

Sadness. Regret. Intention. The trust of souls had killed Pilo, because it felt it had to.

Which meant that – unless Pilo's soul had both the desire and the influence to change the trust's dedication to its cause – this memory was also a threat.

Fine. Yang would play along, for now. "What do you want from me?"

 _The deathstalker clicked and clattered its way forwards, closing faster than Yang could even dream. She placed one foot in front of the other, running her body to its breaking point. There_ could _be a chance she would arrive in time. Things might not be over. But in the back of Yang's mind, a small voice asked her,_ How will you protect the rest of them after it kills Ruby?

Contingency. The next stage of defense.

"Is there any chance you can ease up on my life's lowlights reel?"

No response to that one, of course.

"Listen, Summer. Summers. Whatever I'm speaking to. I'm not going to bet on Ruby's death. She'll succeed."

 _The man stood with his sword, and it took Yang a moment to comprehend what he looked down on. A figure she'd seen so many times in the past, but never in that pose, never with that expression of fear, pain, and defeat. The man looked at Yang, and under his mask, he smiled._

Impending loss.

"You're not going to intimidate me. Sorry if you planned on that. If Ruby" not dies, never dies "fails, I'll head to the sanitarium, stare a blighted woman in the eyes, and kill myself. So if you don't want the fair folk controlling you, maybe you should plan for me supporting Ruby's victory instead, all right?"

" _Soon as the bandage was on, she took off." Sun shrugged. "Maybe she saw something she had to do." He stared out the window, pretending not to notice Yang's tears, more than she'd shed over her own mutilation._

Betrayal.

"Well, maybe you should've thought of that before you killed your last vessel and assumed I'd be your slave too."

" _We're headed off to search for Cinder," Ruby said. "It won't be easy. But we can get to the bottom of what happened at Beacon. It's... It's an adventure." She reached for Yang's hand. "Like you always wanted."_

 _Yang yanked it out of reach._

Regret. And more regret.

"Yeah. You screwed up. Get used to living with it."

Yang was again alone. It was a little relaxing thinking her own thoughts, but at the same time, rather worrisome. What was Summer planning? Were all of the former maidens having some hasty conference deciding how to deal with her?

Yang recalled something on her own. _The trust of souls invariably drive the maiden to wood and ruin._

"You've marked me, haven't you? I won't last long. You'll drive me mad. You'll... Then that's it." Yang Xiao Long, Maiden of Summer, might persist. But sooner or later, Yang would be gone.

" _I release your soul." Yang removed her hand. Ruby gave off a burst of red and steadied herself on her feet._

" _Oh, wow." She flexed her tiny hands and smiled. "Wow. Wow, Yang. Why didn't daddy want Uncle Qrow to give me aura?" She smiled, testing her body, moving back and forth, jumping up and down. "This is amazing! I can do_ anything _."_

The feeling of, in an innocent desire to help, placing another on a path that would inevitably lead them far, far away from you. A very specific feeling. One Yang didn't know others had felt.

"You don't mean to hurt them."

Of course it didn't.

"Well, what if you don't speak to me? Do I get better? Stop getting worse?"

" _I always pegged you for an actress." Her uncle paused and tapped his chin. "Or private investigator. Maybe fashion designer. Signal Academy doesn't teach any of those, in case that changes your mind."_

 _Yang shook her head. Ruby wouldn't be a private eye, or join the police, or be content to stay in the kingdoms. So Yang would have to join her. No. Yang_ wanted _to join her._

Good-faith, optimistic desperation. Summer was willing to help. She just didn't expect her help to make a difference.

Yang exhaled and kept her lungs empty until it burned. She needed to _think_. There was a way out. There was always a way out. A way to save the world, and her sister, and herself.

"So, what do I have to prepare for when Ruby wins?"

 _A villain strode into an alleyway and out of view. Roman Torchwick. Yang turned the bike and pulled onto the sidewalk in front of a sign labeled_ Frozen Delights _. It was a useful pursuit. Whatever else she'd agreed to do, he needed to be found._

"Finding someone? Where am I looking?"

 _Yang turned the bike and pulled onto the sidewalk in front of a sign labeled_ Frozen Delights _._

Perhaps her interpretation had been incomplete. "Alright, no need to get clever about it. This is my first day." The first of...

The first day of Ruby's victory. That was all Yang had to know.

Yang opened her door.


	80. Glass

**Glass**

 _You made it. Somehow, you're the hero you always wished you could be._

"Nubu, left."

"Sir." The huntress nodded to Jaune and took off down the alley, stepping in the puddle and leaving bloody boot-prints in her wake. The alley was misdirection, the streak on the wall far too obvious. But he couldn't _ignore_ it. Maybe Nubu could find the... the source of the blood.

 _Does the reality live up to the dream?_

Ren followed Jaune up the street. He saw no more blood stains... maybe the alley _had_ been a double bluff. Walking further down the street, Jaune didn't see a single sign of the quarry, or even...

Jaune checked his watch. Just past seven. "Ren, where is everybody?"

"I do not know."

"Where was that blighted last week?"

"We hunted one a few blocks from here." Ren pointed. "That way."

"Well... figure it out. The people thing." The streets hadn't been bustling and busy that day, but there had been plenty of people around, and it had been fully dark. Almost half the shops and restaurants on the street had been open, and a few of the closed ones looked only closed for the night.

Few storefronts on this street looked empty or dusty, but it was hard to tell. Every single one was dark.

ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ʙᴏᴅʏ. ʙʟᴏᴏᴅʏ, Nubu sent.

ᴊᴏɪɴ ᴜs ᴜᴘsᴛʀᴇᴇᴛ. They could note the time in her report, using the message timestamp. Mistral wasn't bursting with excess manpower. The dead would be cared for, eventually. Jaune kept walking, Ren trailing behind, absorbed in his scroll.

"This may be it," Ren decided. "Mistral Daily. A source close to the council reports that the Red Reaper has gone missing."

"Missing?" Ruby? "What does missing mean?"

"More reports to follow." Ren shut his scroll. Boots on pavement behind them forecasted Nubu's arrival.

More to follow? Why not just write it now? Why keep this important information...

No. More important. If Ruby was missing, what did that mean?

It meant bad things. It meant that Cinder couldn't be defeated. It meant that blighted couldn't be healed. It meant that Mistral was on the brink of collapse, from detainment infrastructure on down.

They approached a nondescript intersection. "Trail's going cold. Nubu, left. Ren, right." They would find something. They always did. Jaune walked up the empty street, teammates peeling off in unison.

Some lights _were_ on. Not the streetlights, there wasn't enough power to keep those up everywhere. But a few lights in upstairs windows. Jaune looked up at one, the floor over an atlesian grill. All it showed him was a ceiling.

He heard prayer. Many voices.

 _Ruby._ All Jaune had thought of was himself. Was she all right?

 _The whole city will miss you, Ruby. And I care for you. Be safe._

Jaune kept walking, ears open. The angle was usually wrong for him to see people through the windows, but he heard a lot of people. Most cried or prayed. Mistral wasn't terribly religious. The apocalypse must bring that out of people.

It was another half block before he heard a shout. It came from a window to his right. High-pitched. Quickly cut off.

Jaune tapped a two-burst on the scroll before he opened the nearest stairwell door. The others would seek him out if they didn't have a lead themselves. Then he stowed the scroll and unfolded his shield, taking the steps two at a time. They led to a small hallway with two doors, one open. The room was dark, lit by a window.

Inside was a man, standing over two figures. Another man, kneeling. Behind him, against a wall, a boy. The standing man raised a cleaver above his head, knuckles white on its handle. A shaft of moonlight illuminated the kneeling man's terror. Perhaps, a father.

"Hey!" shouted Jaune.

The man turned in time for Jaune's thrown shield to impact his chest instead of his back. He flew past the room's other occupants and into a wall, but pushed back off in a moment, cleaver still in hand.

Jaune didn't give him time to settle into a stance. He darted into the room and swung, but the man blocked the blow with his cleaver. Sparks lit the maniac's expressionless face. If only he were laughing, grinning, anything that betrayed madness. It would make Jaune's job so much easier.

The man went on the offensive, swinging the cleaver wildly, leaving himself open. Jaune blocked with Crocea Mors, but the cleaver was smaller, easier to maneuver. And the man, the blighted, was tall.

 _I have to strike back._

The man would probably die.

With Ruby gone, what else could they do? Lock him up forever? He was _already_ dead. Worse, even.

Jaune missed a block, and the cleaver scored against his arm, scraping away aura. He yelled and swung Crocea at the man's neck. The sword struck air. The man was tumbling to the ground, the father's arms around his waist. They landed in the room's square of moonlight.

The blighted swung his cleaver down in an arc, towards the other man's head. It impacted Jaune's hand, biting into his glove. The hand held Crocea Mors, which pinned the attacker's chest to the floor.

Jaune grabbed the father by the shoulder and heaved him off the body, then went to retrieve his shield. Had to stay calm. Team would be here any minute. Secure the scene. Bandage hand. Fix the...

With a sickening sound, the blighted embedded the cleaver deep into his own stomach and ran it up his chest. At last, a smile appeared on his face. "Get back!" Jaune yelled to the others.

A beetle burst through the incision, heading straight for the child. Jaune dove and swung his shield. He struck the beetle square on, hurling it straight through the window, leaving a circular hole in the glass. His dive brought him down on the body.

Jaune climbed to his feet, feeling sick. Secure the scene. Team should be here. One was already coming up the steps. Jaune rocked back on his feet.

Yang Xiao Long burst into the room, wearing her old battle uniform with her ice arm exposed. She took in the scene in a fraction of a second and walked straight to the boy, now standing stock still in a corner, trying to shrink from the carnage in front of him.

"Sorry, kid." She placed a warm hand on his cheek and a cold one on his chest, and began to glow yellow. The boy shrank from her touch, but a violet glow spread across his skin and clothing. "I release your soul, and by my honor, protect thee."

"Yang," choked out Jaune. "What are..."

She turned, like she was seeing him for the first time. "Jaune. Hey. Sorry, can't explain. On a mission. It's... it's time sensitive." She turned back to the boy, no longer glowing. "And I am sorry about this."

In an instant, her arm turned to water. The red puddle on the floor became a much larger pink one.

"That's better. Thanks."

With a quiet _pop_ , she disappeared.

Somehow, Jaune's confusion overrode his urge to vomit. "Please..." Security. Ritual. Routine. "Remain calm. We're going to be fine."

He decided, as Nubu and Ren finally arrived, that he didn't much enjoy being a hero after all.


	81. Temptation

**Temptation**

The passage seemed to change as they walked. Ruby couldn't put her finger on it. Then it ended, in a land of pink and blue, and it became all too clear.

The passageway opened up into a city. With its own lights, its own buildings, its own paved roads...

And its own sky, thick with pink smog. With a planet in it.

Neo gasped and squeezed Ruby's hand. Weiss, on her other side, studied the planet above but made no move towards another. Was that...

It was. Vacuo. Vale. Atlas. The fair folk lived far away, it seemed. And somehow, that passage... the tunnel had taken them here. She turned back. The tunnel was a hole, in a hill stuck through with purple crystals.

"Come," ordered Cinder. Ruby had stopped at some point. She squeezed Neo's hand back and kept walking.

They were on a wide paved street, moving through regular blocks of buildings. The buildings were brownish grey, like the street beneath them. They had doors and windows, but none had glass. Occasionally, Ruby would catch sight of a face in one of the windows. They resembled humans, but with white skin and black lines.

Black lines, like blighted. White skin, almost like grimm.

Cinder reached another wide street and the group turned left. They were getting deeper and deeper into the city, but the passage was all that mattered. Ruby would have to remember how many blocks she walked from the first street. The street that led to the cave, to the tunnel, to the passage home.

"I don't like this," whispered Weiss. Ruby found it hard to disagree.

The street flared outwards into a circle, with a gentle slope leading to a depression in the center, and a large building to the right. Cinder led them straight down the slope and up the other side, to a hill with stairs carved into its side. The buildings stopped and the crystals resumed as they marched on up.

At the top of the hill was a woman of white and black, facing away. She wore a dark cloak and had most of her hair done up in a bun. She was gazing off of the hill at... it almost looked like the moon. But then, if that was the moon, where were they?

The woman turned back at the small crowd approaching. "Just Ruby, please." She gave them a warm smile.

Ruby grabbed Weiss with her free hand. "We're staying together," she answered with as much confidence as she could muster.

The white woman nodded, like it didn't matter one bit. "Fine. Join me. Everybody else can leave." Ruby surged past Cinder and the blighted, yanking Weiss's hand as Winter passed them heading down. From this close she could see that the lines on the woman's face weren't black, but dark red.

"You'll have to forgive me." The woman waved her arm across the sky, and behind it, the moon vanished. "I was reminiscing. I am Salem. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Did Ruby introduce herself back? Salem already knew who she was. Should she introduce Neo and Weiss? Would Salem see them as a weakness to be exploited?

Why couldn't speaking with people be _simple_ like it used to be?

"What do you want from me?" Ruby asked. Cinder and her blighted had stopped halfway down the hill, waiting.

Salem, the fey, nodded. "To the point. I've finally figured out a way to end this war. With your help, humans and my people can make peace within the day. It won't be easy for me, or for you. But rest assured, we can do it."

Peace? With the people that created the grimm? "Why shouldn't I destroy this entire city?"

"Because innocent people will be killed if you do," Salem answered. "Both humans and mine. And yes, I have done terrible things to protect my people. But we... we were never the aggressors in this war." She pointed at Ruby, and a grinding sound preceded a set of three rough-hewn stone chairs rising from the hill for her and her companions to sit in. "I will explain."

Ruby glanced at Neo and Weiss. All three remained standing.

"Long ago." Salem didn't seem to notice. "Humanity was a primitive, barbaric, warlike people." She smiled like an affectionate mother, as though she had some unvoiced opinions on the present state of humanity. "We met them then. Though some felt pity, we elected to treat them as equals. We gave and gave, though you had little to offer in return. We gave food. We gave shelter." Her voice darkened. "We gave magic.

"We gave humanity a drop of strength and it became aura and semblance. We gave them willfulness and they grew horns, beaks and tails; some bred true. We gave one human a brush and he drew slices of a year in paint that stuck to the species. More and more did we give. It seemed that with our patronage, they could do no wrong. Humanity thrived and spread. Now we were outnumbered, but what did it matter? We were partners. Equals."

"I still hope to find out _why_ you attacked." She gestured, and the image of the shattered moon reappeared in the sky. Or perhaps the image was in miniature, feet from where they stood. "One day we found that a man had stolen powers unique to our race and woven a dark tapestry into his own. A power for humanity whose only purpose was death and destruction. The unmaking of fey and our works."

Silver eyes.

"In one move, our former allies had us moments from extinction." Weiss was squeezing Ruby's hand harder than before, likely unintentionally. "We had cities on Remnant. Numbers. Trade. Harmony. No longer."

This is what Ruby had been born to do. Genocide.

"The grimm were a distraction, at first. Keep the silver-eyed and their hunters away while we sealed ourselves off. While we hid. From the scourge that is humankind, and its silver-eyed warriors. Even then we wished only to survive, and understand. Never punish. But we made a mistake. I made a mistake.

"You see, the magic the man had stolen from our race was that of power, and scale, and control. We no longer had the ability to lessen or unmake the grimm. For that, we need silver eyes."

"What, exactly, do you want from Ruby?" demanded Weiss. "And exactly what happens when you get it?"

Salem gestured behind herself, and another chair rose from the rocky ground. This one was also stone, but grander, with a filigreed golden trim and jewels forming an arch across its tall back. "Ruby Rose is the only argent of humanity. If she gives her power to this throne, then the individual sitting in it will have connection and control over the grimm. It is not an easy task. I could never subject it to another. The process is painless for her, of course."

Ruby found her voice. "And you claim you'll use this to make peace."

"You can already see that I don't like death. I am attempting to resolve this peaceably. With your people there to urge the end of fighting and the acceptance of reason, Remnant could thrive together in a matter of days."

 _Your people?_

Neo let go of Ruby's hand and retrieved her scroll. ᴅᴏᴇs sʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴀɴ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛᴇᴅ?

"You'll send out blighted, once you take my powers to heal them. Are you going to blight the rest of the humans, too, Salem?"

The fey shook her head. "Only as many as would be absolutely necessary. Any grimm alive would tax the throne. Once our people have peace, why would I want more strain?"

"I'd sooner destroy this city than let you enslave humanity. No blighted."

"I will need to speak to my council, but I understand that this means a great deal to you." Salem's gaze drifted across the three, lingering on Weiss. "I will give you accommodations among your people. We will speak again soon."

The three smaller chairs sunk back into the hill. Behind them, Ruby saw Winter heading up to retrieve them.

 _If she said she destroyed all of the beetles,_ Ruby wondered, _would I have to believe her?_

Salem, gazing idly up at the moon she'd projected, sat down on her throne.


	82. Always

**Always**

 _I never intended to be the tyrant of remnant. Or of Vale, even._

Ozpin sighed and took a sip of coffee. _Somehow, it took until now for me to slip up._

He stretched his feet up onto his desk. His all-new desk, in his all-new tower. He could've moved down into the Vale council hall, but appearances were important. He was still, after all, just the academy headmaster. On paper.

Desperate times.

The caffeine coursed down his throat and already he could feel it spread through his veins. The best invention of humanity, bar none. Life without it had barely been worth living.

A girl appeared in front of his desk. Taller than short, yellow hair, yellow and brown outfit exposing quite a bit of skin. Sweaty. Jennifer? No. Jennifer was dead. Erica? No, the lack of right arm was throwing him off. Yang.

Ozpin removed his feet from the table as casually as possible. "Yang. What a pleasant surprise." What had her semblance been? Not a good one, a useful one, or Ozpin would've remembered it. But she was on Ruby's team. Ruby's sister, even. Sister? They didn't look much alike. But Ozpin had never gotten the hang of faces.

That hadn't been a fey portal, either. Which removed one from the very short number of explanations for her appearance.

"Professor." She seemed unsure if she should bow or make some other expression of respect. She settled for wiping her brow. "We have to deliver a message to Tahki."

Ozpin nodded. There were only two explanations now. "And who is this message from?"

"Summer," Yang answered, stone-faced.

So she hadn't been sent _by_ Pilo, or her successor. Rather, she was the one taking the poor girl's place. "Very well." Ozpin stood up. His new chair was more comfortable than the last, but it didn't look nearly as fashionable. "Do I get to know what we're going to tell her?"

"You'll hear when I tell her." Yang had a familiar note in her voice. Well, they were all familiar notes. This particular familiar note said she was covering for her own insecurity.

Summer hadn't yet told her what she would say.

Ozpin looked around for his cane, but of course, that was gone off somewhere. Hadn't even been in the wreckage. A shame, but it wasn't his only resource. "What does Summer need of me?"

"Summer will find the maiden of winter. I might need your help to get her out of the ocean and convince her what needs to be done."

Ozpin shook his head. "Summer won't need any help convincing another maiden of her plans." Save Yang's help, of course. But Yang herself was simply the maiden's other half. Summer was by far the oddest season. The first made. The flashiest, yes, but also the one for ironing out mistakes. Errors.

Ozpin leaned over his desk and pressed the intercom. "Hold my calls." He didn't know if Glynda was listening on the other end, but from experience, she was the one that would yell at him about it later. Desperate times.

 _Such is life._ For the next fifty years at least.

"Take my hand," the girl ordered. Ozpin gripped the offered wrist, as she gripped his. "I'm still a little sloppy at this point. But if it's any consolation, I'm the best in the world. The kid with the semblance hasn't ever used it." Yang took a deep breath.

The _pop_ was much louder in first-person. Suddenly, the two were over the city of Vale. A second _pop_ and they were further to the north, over the commercial district. A third _pop_ and they'd moved west, to the residential peninsula.

They'd barely begun to fall before they appeared over the sea. _Pop, pop, pop._ Ozpin couldn't tell which direction they were moving any more. _Pop, pop, pop._ They couldn't be moving just in a straight line. _Pop, pop, pop._ They would've reached land by now. _Pop, pop, pop._ Summer was zeroing Yang in on where they needed to be.

"Here!" Choked out Yang. She nearly let the pair of them fall the fifty feet into the water. _Pop._ "Go!" She moved fifty feet back up, and wrenched her arm from Ozpin's grasp.

The entire thing was incredibly undignified.

Yang popped back into the air, and Ozpin dropped towards the water. So he stopped everything and slipped under the waves.

Ozpin had never realized the true scale of the leviathan. Certainly, Tahki had described it back on Vytal. But when he came face to eye with it, it was still intimidating. It must have been a mile long, head to flipper. He'd have to begin work immediately. If Summer had plans for Winter, the leviathan would get loose. Just 80 years back, that would've threatened the apocalypse. Nowadays, James might just have enough ordinance to put a stop to it.

Lucky that there hadn't been a second fey like Yasriel. Maidens weren't a simple system to set up, and it took the most powerful just to contain the threat. Or maybe the other fey saw what happened to her and didn't repeat the ritual, but that didn't explain the thousand years previous.

Next to it, Tahki was easy to miss. Ozpin didn't. He threw an arm around her stomach, tucked her sideways under his arms, and started swimming straight up.

Even now, Ozpin was impressed at Tahki's instant awareness; the winter maiden was conscious and focused at all times. She opened her eyes and stared at him before unfolding her body from his grasp and spreading out to kick her legs. She slipped a hand into his first, though. He must have explained his semblance to her at some point, or she guessed. With semblances, contact was usually a good guess.

She likely also guessed he wasn't grabbing her to chat about old times. Ozpin had left her to her work for this long. Why would he interrupt it now, short of the fate of the world?

They broke the surface. Yang was still thirty feet up. Tahki stilled the water in front of her, climbed on, and then lifted Ozpin. She'd grown adept using those powers, and good thing.

Ozpin let the world resume.

Suddenly, he was out of breath. Almost dry, yes, but out of breath. Ozpin was getting old. He sat down abruptly and felt that Tahki had shaped him a chair from air.

Not even as comfortable as his old one, and invisible chairs _were_ rather tacky. Still, Tahki had already seen him at his worst, and a Summer wouldn't care one way or the other, so appearances didn't matter much here. Nonetheless, old habits.

Yang fell almost to their level and popped a few feet sideways to land next to them. She'd learned her new semblance quickly. Hopefully it would treat her well, because she was never getting her old one back. Summer could give others any she'd had, but could only use their most recent acquisition. That had been unintentional.

"Your mission?" asked Tahki, once the three were settled.

"My sister is fighting the fair folk now." began Yang. "She's going to win." She paused, another look of uncertainty passing through her face. "Then something is supposed to happen... there." She pointed to the horizon.

"Where?" prompted Tahki.

"Uh..." Yang scrunched up her face. "On the moon? I think. I don't see it yet."

Ozpin nodded. Did he have enough breath to speak without shattering his mystique? "Fair magics keep it in stasis." He wanted to elaborate, but was forced to go back to breathing lest he gasp or do something even less dignified.

"I am to go there."

"Things will get bad if you don't," Yang answered. She probably didn't know how. As each soul joined, Summer had gotten more and more willful, elitist... damaging.

How was Ozpin to know? Nobody could have known. It wasn't anybody's fault.

Sometimes things just happened.

"There," Yang was telling Tahki, at least Ozpin hoped it was Tahki, pointing into the sky. "No... There." She swung her arm left. "There." She corrected a bit to her right. "Yeah. That one."

Tahki smiled. She took a step, stilling the air underneath her foot several inches from the ground. Then another, and another, and she was two feet in the air.

"Oz, you are recovered?"

Ozpin sprung to his feet and nodded stoically. "I am fine, Tahki."

"Then I am away." She took off, sprinting into the sky where Yang had pointed. She had faith. Faith that if she went that direction, she would arrive where she needed to be. Faith that Ozpin would do what he must with the leviathan.

Faith that Summer was saying the right thing. She'd barely ever been wrong, but that didn't mean she always told the truth. In Ozpin's experience, it didn't mean she _mostly_ told the truth.

"This water will flow once she gets further away," Ozpin pointed out, offering a hand to the girl by his side. She didn't seem to bear him ill will, Summer's or otherwise. "Shall we?"

All he'd ever done was the best he could. Ozpin smiled, thinking of all the ways Glynda would already be preparing to tell him that it wasn't enough.

 _Pop._


	83. Don't Talk

**Don't Talk**

"She's lying," Weiss declared.

"About what?" Ruby was staring out of the tiny cottage's empty window frame, the sun creeping up past her face as it set.

"Everything." Weiss continued to pace. "You don't create the race of grimm to run and hide. To start with, why would you need to make so many different varieties?"

"Maybe they... changed themselves," Ruby suggested. "Split apart somehow." So hopeful.

"Yeah, or maybe they were made by a liar."

Neo didn't know what to believe. She had enough experience with humanity to recognize its potential for evil. But grimm shaped the world in uncomfortable ways. They didn't seem like the necessity begotten from altruism that Salem had implied.

In the end, Neo didn't care. Why should it matter where the grimm came from? Why should it matter what happened a billion years ago? The goal was stopping the beetles. The goal was stopping the grimm. The goal was Ruby Rose.

The sun dipped below the horizon.

"Will they kill us when we go to sleep?" asked Weiss. "We can't exactly lock the door." Neo wasn't sure why there was no glass in the city, but evidently the fair folk weren't ones for privacy. The door had no lock, and the window didn't even have blinds.

"They let us into the city. They have to know how much damage I could do." Ruby got up from her chair by the window and eyed the room's stiff cot. "I don't think they want a fight." So trusting.

"Or _maybe_ , they brought you here so you'd go to sleep thinking that." Weiss pointed at her partner. "Maybe you don't want to show Salem what you can do yet, but I say we keep a watch."

"What do you think they'll give me?" asked Ruby. "For my powers." So kind.

"Nothing, because you're not giving up humanity's only weapon," Weiss insisted. "We'll do things our way." Neo turned her scroll back on. She had no reason to save the battery.

Neo snapped her fingers. Ruby looked, then pointed the glowing scroll out to Weiss. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ.

Weiss looked her up and down. "We'll talk more tomorrow," the woman declared. "Wake me in four and a half hours." She grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled her over to the cot.

"Weiss, maybe we should plan for when we—"

"No." Weiss placed a finger over Ruby's mouth. "Get into bed now, or you'll wake me when you do." She looked around the room. "At least I can trust Neo to keep things _quiet_."

Ruby rolled her eyes in the gloom and slipped with Weiss under the cot's sheet. The air was warm, and the sun setting didn't seem to start cooling anything. How the weather worked here was also something Neo was fine not learning.

It took twelve minutes for Ruby's breathing to even out like Weiss's. The door could make sound, so Neo jumped through the window and rolled. The gaps between buildings in this part of the city were just thin dirt paths, so she straightened before rolling into the next wall over.

Somebody was to her left. Neo turned. Winter, standing stock still against their hut's outer wall. The place was otherwise deserted.

Winter could be a problem. Schnee glyphs were powerful. Still, incomplete control could diminish her efficacy. Neo held a finger to her lips for quiet, then typed. ᴡʜʏ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴇʀᴇ?

"I'm to see to your needs and requests," whispered the tall woman, bending down.

ᴀʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ? Asked Neo.

"Yes. The blighted sleep in this neighborhood. You've been placed in the center." So that any use of Ruby's eyes would spread out and kill the ones that had been blighted too long.

Neo nodded. That would be fine, then. ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ᴡᴏʀᴋs.

Winter's eyebrows narrowed. "Last month, a small grim burrowed inside of my aura. It tells me what actions to perform and punishes me when I don't."

ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏᴇs ɪᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ?

"Each beetle has a mission. I don't think they're intelligent in the proper sense, they're much too young. They use the knowledge of their hosts to determine how to accomplish it." Winter's voice was rising in volume.

Neo gave her another silent shushing before typing again. sᴛᴀʏ ǫᴜɪᴇᴛ. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴍɪssɪᴏɴ?

"My mission can be changed through a fair folk's demands. My current mission is to be of service to Ruby Rose and her companions through the night, and report anything noteworthy." Winter's gaze drifted off towards the tall building in the distance.

Neo felt a spark of hope, and her heart began to beat faster. ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ?

Winter's eyes widened. She was smart. She understood.

"I do so in person." She spoke slowly and deliberately. "The grimm have no way to communicate over distances."

Neo's heart felt like it might explode from her chest. She forced her hands not to shake as she typed.

ɪ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴜʀɴ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ.

Winter took a deep breath, held it, and let it out. Black lines may have appeared on her face, but it was hard to tell in the gloom.

Winter turned around and faced down the street. "I love my baby sister," she whispered. Neo barely heard it over her own heartbeat.

"She'll grow strong," Neo assured her.

Neo ran her through. The first strike bounced off her aura, however much the blight forced her to retain. The second slid through her ribs and out her chest. As she toppled, Neo put a hand over the woman's mouth and lowered her body to the dirt.

Neo's heart calmed. She was committed now. Nothing left but to finish the job.

Ruby was hopeful. She was trusting. She was kind.

Ruby was foolish. Ruby was naive. But that was what made her Ruby Rose, and Neo couldn't harm it.

Neo would never follow Ruby into hell because Ruby would never have to go.

"I'm... still alive." Winter's skin was a mess of black lines, but still she whispered. She lifted her head and stared at Neo, pleading in her eyes.

Neo stabbed her twice through the neck and she was still. Then she stabbed the beetle climbing out of the hole in the woman's back.

Neo had paid attention as they were led to their building. She knew the layout of the surrounding buildings. Start with the most remote, in case the blighted weren't all asleep.

Neo felt a sting in her thigh.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

She spun, digging her hand into the wound. Her hand slipped on her blood and came back empty. Winter's cloak was torn at her waist. A second beetle was crawling out. Neo had a bad angle on her wound with her hand, so she drew her umbrella and lunged for the beetle on Winter's corpse.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

They'd had Winter carry grimm. For this exact situation. Neo was outplayed. She would have to cry out, get Ruby to heal her, let Weiss attempt to murder her, and abandon her plan.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

The beetle didn't like that plan. It wanted her to turn from the house and walk to the big building. To report what she had done.

Neo didn't want to do either one. She stepped down the path, towards the remote cottages.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

For that perfect innocent idealist.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

For Ruby Rose.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

The first cottage was dark and still. Neo wasn't confident she could jump through a window. She opened the door, and one of its two occupants sat up and opened his mouth. Neo's blade went out the back of his head, then through his partner's neck.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

Neo fell to the floor and clutched her head. Her umbrella landed somewhere.

 _OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY_

 _That's two people Ruby will never have to kill._

 _OBEY,_ Neo's mind demanded.

"No."

Squinting in the darkness—light seemed to make the pain worse—Neo found her umbrella.

She wouldn't be able to finish without it.


	84. Sounds of Remnant

**Sounds of Remnant**  
 _What's that sound?_

Oh well. No need to worry, Neo was...

Ruby bolted upright. It was night. The door was opening. Neo wasn't there. Why wasn't Neo there?

Ruby jumped to her feet. Next to her, Weiss dived for myrtenaster.

Something on the other side of the doorway croaked. Then they did it again. On second listen, it sounded almost like a hoarse voice choking out the word "No."

The door opened. Weiss ringed the bed in glyphs.

"Weiss," Ruby hissed.

Weiss ended the glyphs. Ruby ran to the door and engulfed Neo in a hug.

Her face was a mess of black lines. Blood was everywhere, thickest on her hands and sleeves, but also splattering her chest, oozing from a tear in her pants, and fusing shut one eye.

"Ruby... Do me a favor." Neo smiled. "No. Do me a favor." Under the rasping was a faint gurgle. Neo's delicate voice had broken.

"Neo, what happened?!" Ruby demanded. Pleaded. Wailed.

"Give it a blast, Ruby." Neo closed her eyes. "No. Big as you can."

"You're blighted." Ruby blinked. Black lines. Neo was in pain. What had happened? What had they done to her? "Right. Of course." Ruby opened a palm and began to concentrate. Focus. She had to _focus_.

"No." Neo shook her head, a sluggish motion that barely jostled it against Ruby's chest. "Big as you can... Please... No. Trust me."

Big? They were in the fair city. "Neo, the blighted..."

"I love you." Neo's limp body slipped from Ruby's arms.

Ruby stared at the body at her feet. The droplets of water falling to the dirt.

The silver.

* * *

Weiss blinked stars from her eyes. She was alive, and awake, even if the world wasn't quite in focus.

Slowly she resolved a small standing figure and a larger lying one. The horizontal one was black and red: Ruby. The one tucking her in was Neo, also largely red.

This was not how things were supposed to go. No matter how things were supposed to go, this wasn't it. Neo had left them alone, she'd been blighted, she'd... What had Ruby done?

Weiss shook her head to clear it, and Neo turned around and looked at her. She'd clearly recovered some aura, as she was looking with two open eyes, although her clothing looked worse than ever. Weiss was sitting in a chair, a bit crooked.

Neo brought out her scroll. Its screen was cracked. ᴄᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ sᴛᴀɴᴅ?

Weiss discovered that she could.

"What happened?"

ʀᴜʙʏ's ᴀsʟᴇᴇᴘ. ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ sʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ.

The sun's rays were visible on the horizon as Neo limped down the path, Weiss following in her wake. The city seemed deserted, which made sense, but it magnified the eeriness of the city tenfold. And there was a smell in the air. One Weiss eventually identified, despite an attempt to the contrary.

Blood.

The beetles would put the blighted to sleep, to keep them fresh for the morning. But when Ruby unleashed her power... There hadn't been nearly any blood when Raven died.

"Where is Winter?"

Neo stopped a few steps short of the main street and turned around, typing. ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.

Weiss shook her head. "No, It takes years for extraction to be lethal. At _least_ a year. Winter was only blighted last month. On a mission." Doing her duty. "She was on a mission."

ɪ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ɪ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀ.

A second later, Neo was on the ground, bleeding from her eyebrow. Weiss was standing, her fist aching. That seemed odd. Weiss wasn't one to punch people. It was a terribly inefficient form of combat. Her trainers would never let her hear the end of it.

Neo stood back up and faced Weiss, hands at her sides. Weiss placed a diagonal glyph through her legs and another through her neck, spinning the woman around. She hit the dirt with her shoulder, tearing her coat. It was a powerful blow, whoever did it.

Neo grabbed her scroll where it had fallen and stood back up, pocketing it.

"How could you?!" Weiss shouted, leaning down into the killer's face. Neo swallowed, gaze locked on Weiss's hands. Weiss could sympathize. She could only watch the pair, from her station behind her own eyes.

Neo unhooked the umbrella from her belt and let it drop to the ground.

 _Winter._

Weiss watched Weiss Schnee draw myrtenaster and pull back for a thrust.

Neo turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut. A flake of dried blood fell from her face.

"Winter..."

How? How could she kill Winter? She was so kind, and beautiful, and fair, and moral, and intelligent, and supportive, and _perfect_...

Weiss fell back into herself before falling to her knees. Then she fell to all fours.

A cracked scroll slid to her from across the dirt. sʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ.

Of course she did, no matter how hard Weiss made it. Winter could devote herself to anything. It was that tenacity she'd tried to hard to teach.

The one that Weiss wasn't acting on now. Classify and contain. Control and overpower. Winter was Weiss's sister. Winter was blighted. The blighted were agents of the fair folk. _Classification complete._ She took the knowledge and stored it for future recall.

Weiss stood and wiped her eyes. "What did you want to show me?"

Neo studied Weiss's face for something. Once she found whatever she'd looked for, she turned and limped into the street. They were right next to the circular depression, with the tall building to the side and Salem's hill beyond.

It wasn't the morning sun giving the hint of light to the sky. It was the hill. On top of the hill, where Salem had made the throne. The throne was glowing, bright and steady. A whole hazy fog around it glowed silver.

ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʀᴜʙʏ's ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ sᴘʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴀᴄʀᴏss ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜᴇᴅ ɪᴛ, Neo typed.

So. The fair folk were dead, at least the ones nearby. The blighted were dead. And Ruby may have lost her powers. It wasn't how Salem had implied things would happen, but then, Weiss had known she was a liar.

Which meant the end of Ruby's powers. And, fair folk or not, the end of their fight against the grimm.

Humanity would need a new weapon. It couldn't be Ruby. Perhaps it would be Weiss Schnee, former Beacon student, one-time Atlas Academy enrollee, Schnee Heiress. With an overtaxed team leader, a huntsman certification, and a father who never loved her.

Sister of Winter.

It was Winter's path Weiss should follow. Winter's teachings. Winter's mission.

Weiss walked past Neo to the base of the hill. The woman failed to keep up. _Sorry, Neo. Sorry, Ruby. This time, I'll lead._

About time Weiss did the right thing. Made the call. Took the responsibility.

Neo reached the first step, took it, and stumbled. "Don't follow," shouted Weiss, slowing. "It seems you'll be looking after Ruby a little while longer." She didn't have to wonder whether it would work. It was all she'd been working towards. Of _course_ she could take it.

Weiss reached the throne. The glow from here was almost unbearable. Squinting, she made her way to the seat and sat. Nothing happened. She placed her hands on the throne's arms. They snapped into place like a magnetic seal.

All of the light in the universe was sucked into Weiss's chest. She absorbed the silver fog, and felt herself toppling inwards. Weiss was compressed into a point, before exploding outwards into eternity.

Weiss _was_ grimm. Anger, hatred, hunger. She felt the emotions, the feelings, all around the world, in millions and millions of fragments, each its own complete sensation. Weiss Schnee was multitudes, and had only one purpose: The complete destruction of humanity.

Weiss gathered herself back into herself. She was beginning to understand scope. This task could prove too great for any one person. At least, if that person wasn't Weiss Schnee.

She gave herself another purpose: _Die._

Everywhere, she resisted. Grimm yelped and howled, refusing her command. Some scratched, or bit her. Weiss screamed. Their pain was their own, but there was a physical force in their resistance.

Weiss ended her command. She wasn't ready for the grimm. Not all of them. She focused again, this time on just one species. Easy to find. Most of them were clustered in just four places. The beetles.

She gave them a purpose: _Go to sleep._

Weiss felt drowsy. But in the rest of her mind, she was awake. She couldn't sleep. Not yet. She had to cure the blighted, because Ruby couldn't. She had to make certain there would be no more deaths like Winter's.

Neo reached the top of the hill just as the sun appeared over the horizon. "Mneo," Weiss mumbled. "S'enough. Go." She took a breath. Had to concentrate on using her individual body. Derision helped her focus. "You have your orders. The grimm are mine. Ruby. Go."

Neo nodded and started back down.

Maybe the beetles were sparse enough to control. Then she would go back to the rest of the grimm, and figure out how to deal with them too.


	85. Real Love

**Real Love**

Neo limped down the hill and back onto the path. She'd left her umbrella there on the ground. Sloppy, but who would she fight here? Who would she fight that she could beat?

Still, it was a nice umbrella. She should call it Iris. It deserved the name. Iris Schnee, for its predecessor and its maker. It clicked back onto her belt.

Fourth row, fifth, sixth, and she reached the cottage. She'd have to get Ruby out somehow. No. She'd have to get Ruby food somehow. No, she'd...

Cinder Fall stood above Ruby's unconscious form. Neo froze. Cinder, maiden of autumn. Friend of the fair folk. Enemy of Argents. How would Neo get Ruby away?

Cinder didn't even look up. "Neopolitan. You may see it's in your best interests to come inside."

Neo's traitor legs walked her through the open door, so she popped open Iris into a frontal guard, glassed, and backed right back out. It was Neo's first time experiencing the maiden's powers, but nothing said she had to _stay_ inside. Save proximity to Ruby, which was just short of everything.

"...And freeze."

Neo tripped over her legs and fell back into the doorway, her glass falling to pieces. All she could see was Iris's canopy. She heard footsteps moving closer.

"I see now, Neo. How you got her to do it. It's a fine trick." Cinder chuckled, then knelt down and pushed Iris aside, Neo's frozen hands following it. "You're responsible for a lot of killing, little girl. A whole race, I believe." Her face hardened. "Some good people."

Then Cinder rocked herself back and sat down on the floor. Neo could still see her from the corner of her eyes. "I guess you win." She lay down, and Neo couldn't see her anymore. Neo's eyes began to dry out and burn. She heard Cinder sigh.

A minute or ten hours later, Cinder stood back up. "Get up."

Neo tried to get up. She tried to do anything. All she was able to do was have painful eyes. Oh, her position was getting uncomfortable, but that didn't even count as an action compared to her eyes. Maybe if worry counted.

Cinder groaned. "Neopolitan, look, cancel my orders."

Neo slammed her eyes shut and dropped Iris to rub them.

"Get up. I'm not ordering you, just telling you." Neo groped for Iris with her left hand before rising to her feet. She could open her eyes now, if she had to fight, but it really wouldn't make a difference. She was Cinder's. _Ruby_ was Cinder's.

"The fair magics will start to fail. We should leave for remnant before the tunnel disconnects, unless you enjoy starvation. From what Roman told me, it would be rather ironic."

What was Cinder playing at?

"What?" Maybe Cinder saw Neo's expression. "You won. The play is done. It's time for the actors to remove their costumes and collect their pay. Did you expect me to throw a tantrum?"

Neo stowed Iris, forced one eye open, and saw Cinder throwing Ruby across her shoulder. Then she walked past Neo and out the door. Where was she... She just said. The tunnel.

"Don't worry, Neo. I'll get my revenge in time, but it won't be on you for finishing things. Neither you nor your girl are of consequence. Both of us know you won't be interfering with me again." Cinder smiled and walked away, carrying Ruby like a feather. Neo stumbled forward to follow.

What would happen to Weiss? Would she need to eat? Would she need a friend?

 _Well, I_ do _need to eat._ Neo wouldn't be able to stay in any case. If the tunnel was closing, that meant Weiss had better just be fine on her own. She made her choice, and it was the right one for somebody to make.

Neo also had to see Ruby to safety. Cinder was acting very strangely. Neo wasn't one for throwing away her life, but she'd taken a longshot or two in her time. Not for the argent or the hope of mankind, but for Ruby... What would Neo risk?

If she would follow Ruby into hell, she could probably walk behind Cinder for a bit, too. Except that Ruby would never enter hell. She couldn't. Not even following her _own_ lover.

Cinder led her to the tunnel, and up they walked into remnant. It was midday when they emerged. The bullhead was still parked in the village square, where Cinder unceremoniously dropped Ruby to the ground. Neo limped faster to catch up.

"A lot of things could happen now." Cinder didn't even bother looking at Neo. "Some I tried very hard to prevent. Some you won't like at all. Enjoy your love." She jumped into the air, limbs igniting, and shot away into the sky.

Something pecked Ruby's cheek.

"Ack!" Ruby tried to swat it away, but a fluttering of wings and wind saw her slap her own face. She opened her eyes. Why was everything so sluggish today?

Ruby was sitting on pavement, her back propped up against a brick building. She was facing the vinewall, from inside of it judging by the curvature. A crow was perched on an old street lamp just ahead, watching her. It was a warm day.

In her lap, a scroll with a cracked screen displayed the word ʜᴇʏ, ʏᴏᴜ.

"Hello?" asked Ruby, her head still muggy.

The scroll cleared its screen, and new words appeared one at a time. ɪ'ᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅ.

 _What I did?_ Who was she talking to? Where was she? And what did she...

Everything came back. She'd gone to the fair city, ready to end their attacks once and for all. She'd... They'd spoken with fairies, and Neo had... What happened? She wasn't supposed to use her powers, not when the blighted were...

"What did I do?" Ruby asked the scroll.

The scroll again changed its message. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʟᴇs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴄʀᴏʟʟ. ɪ ʟᴇғᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀ sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴋɪʟʟ ᴀɴʏ ʙʟɪɢʜᴛᴇᴅ.

Ruby stood up. Her muscles protested their use. "...Neo?"

ɪ'ᴍ ʟᴇᴀᴠɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ.

Ruby read the scroll over twice before sitting back down. " _What?"_

ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ sᴛɪʟʟ ᴀ ɢɪʀʟ, ʀᴜʙʏ ʀᴏsᴇ.

Ruby frowned. Was this a joke? She'd stopped getting _that_ kind of reaction before she became the world's only superhero and saved civilizations from extinction. "Neo? I love you, Neo. That's you, right?"

The screen went black before switching to a video feed. It showed Neo at the controls of a bullhead, shot from the built-in camera above windshield looking back at the consoles. She was looking down at the console, typing words that superimposed themselves onto the screen.

ɪ ᴡᴀs ғᴏʀᴄᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɢʀᴏᴡ ᴜᴘ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ. ɪ'ᴍ ɴɪɴᴇᴛᴇᴇɴ. ɪ sᴋɪᴘᴘᴇᴅ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴏғ ʟɪғᴇ, ʟɪᴋᴇ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴀʀᴇ. She looked up at the camera, mournful, before looking back down and continuing. ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴀ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ. ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ɢʀᴏᴡɪɴɢ.

Neo was looking at a small screen on her console. Ruby could just barely make out herself, as seen from the front-facing camera of the scroll in her hands. "Neo, stop kidding around. We're _happy_."

ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ. Neo looked up at the camera, as if daring Ruby to disagree.

"But you don't kill. That's..." _You didn't kill any blighted._ "I love you, Neo." Was it true? Ruby and Neo were happy together. Things were working. Everything was working.

ᴀʟʟ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ ɪs ᴏʙᴇʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴋɪʟʟ. ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴs ᴡᴏʀᴋ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ᴀɴʏʙᴏᴅʏ's ᴘᴀʀᴛɴᴇʀ. Neo threw a few switches and pulled back on a throttle lever. A quiet rumbling came out of the scroll's speakers, and the video feed fuzzed.

She couldn't leave. Neo had to be with her. Neo was the secret, the secret that gave Ruby power that made her special. No, forget the power. Neo made Ruby special. "Wait. Neo."

Neo looked back up at the camera. This time, Ruby couldn't quite make out her expression.

"Come back to me?"

After turning a few more dials, Neo got back to typing.

ɪ'ᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ ᴛʜɪs ɪs ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴇɴᴅ ᴜᴘ. ɪғ ɪ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ, ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ sᴇᴇ ɪғ ᴀᴅᴜʟᴛ ʀᴜʙʏ sᴛɪʟʟ ᴡᴀɴᴛs ᴍᴇ.

"Of course," Ruby answered. "Of course, Neo. I love you."

Neo stood up. The image was degrading second by second, but it was clear she was staring at the camera and taking a breath.

"Ruby, I'll always—"

ɴᴏ sɪɢɴᴀʟ

 **Words That We Couldn't Say - End**


	86. Epilogue 1

Gabi Altan stepped up next to a very tall man and dropped to parade rest. To her right, another much taller man did the same. Perhaps Gabi was overshadowed, but she wanted to stand out. Make an impression. There was a reason she'd applied in Vale.

"There's an idea I heard a lot growing up." Lieutenant Arc paced up the line, surveying each recruit in turn. "The idea is that when it comes to defending humanity, huntsmen do the dangerous work, and soldiers pick up the slack. They form the second line." Lieutenant Arc reached Gabi, made eye contact, and continued without breaking stride. "I sincerely hope none of you enlisted hoping for this to be easy."

"Perhaps some of you thought the opposite. Now that the huntsmen academies are all closed, the military is the front line against the grimm." The lieutenant reached the end of the line and turned back to address them. "It's worse than you know."

"A single huntsman could take on a king taijitu or clean out a pack of beowolves, but to do it they needed tools. Tools that they came to rely on."

"Aura and semblance."

Gabi twitched. Her uncle had unlocked her aura on her eleventh birthday. She'd had almost an entire year before losing it. Every night as she fell asleep, she could still feel her body ache.

Not like Jaune Arc. They say he was the only man ever to graduate from a huntsman academy with no aura at all.

"You cannot face these threats alone. Teamwork is your weapon." Gabi heard he fought on a team with the red reaper, the green goddess, and the invincible girl. That he'd led ten squads in the great rally. "And discipline is your shield." Lieutenant Arc still wore Crocea Mors on his hip. Gabi had watched a documentary on it last month. What she wouldn't give for _that_ shield.

Lieutenant Arc started to make his way back past the line. This time, he was examining each recruit more closely. "Tuck that in. Get this refitted. Hands behind your back. Wash those."

Lieutenant Arc reached Gabi, and her heart skipped a beat. The man stopped to look her up and down.

And then moved on, critiquing the rest of the line in turn.

Finally, he reached the end. "Grimm numbers are at a historic low. My job is to make sure everybody in this room lives to see their extinction. If I've given you a task, please report to Deputy Lieutenant Nikos for the locations of the laundry and other aux." A blonde woman to his right raised a spear in her hand and stepped forward. "If I gave you a clean bill, please report to _this_ Deputy Lieutenant Nikos for room assignment." A black-haired man to Lieutenant Arc's left raised his hand and stepped off to the side.

"Break."


	87. Epilogue 2

The doorbell was the first warning.

The man was nervous. He had a right to be, of course. Even when they permitted visitors, the perimeter guards weren't exactly kind about it.

Blake was as happy as she dared. She'd skimmed so little off of his mind's surface that she didn't even know his name. Better and better. She almost wanted to go out in public, were it not for... everything else.

She reached the door and opened it. "You have something for me?"

"Are you Yang Xiao Long?" the man asked. He was older, balding, wearing a green uniform. The small business owner type Blake got used to seeing around Vale. He held a clipboard.

"I'll take the delivery," Blake answered. Perhaps he hadn't heard of her leaf ear.

The man read the paper on his clipboard. "It's addressed to Yang Xiao Long. Signature on delivery."

"I'll take it, old man." Blake sometimes got testy when she was holding back Spring. A bad habit. Hard to break.

"I'll need Ms. Xiao Long's signature," the man insisted, and he meant it. Whoops.

Blake sighed, shutting the man's mind away once more, and snatched the clipboard from his hands before turning and heading inside. Past the kitchen, through the pantry, and down the stairs to the rec room. The room was dark.

"Hey, Boo," Blake called out. Yang liked the basement floor these days.

"Hey, Blake!" The lights came on, and there was Yang, by the far door. "I was meditating." Yang smiled and ran over to Blake, vaulting the couch, and grabbed her into a rough hug.

"Hey, Yang," Blake choked. Yang chose that moment to remember she had lips, and kissed her.

It took a few seconds before Blake broke the kiss. It did feel good. It felt exultant. But there was an uncomfortableness to it, one that seemed to weigh more on Blake's mind each day.

"You gotta sign something." Blake grabbed a pen off the coffee table and handed it to Yang, along with the clipboard.

Yang took the objects and stared blankly.

"It means write your name," Blake clarified.

" _Duh,_ " Yang answered, drawing squiggles on the paper. It might have actually been her signature; Blake couldn't tell. "What's it for?"

Blake gave Yang a patient smile. "You have to sign so the delivery-man knows the letter got to the right person." Blake felt a mind approach from above. She whipped into action.

The man screamed as the vines broke through the walls and engulfed him. Once she was sure his limbs were still, Blake extended the vines down the stairs. Maiden's powers weren't _all_ downside. Just ninety nine percent.

When the man's cocoon reached the basement, Blake uncovered his face from the tangled mass. "You don't have permission to enter our home."

"I am sorry, green goddess. Please forgive me. I must speak to her."

Blake braced herself and gave the man a read. No real ill will, beyond the transparent deceit. A son. Illness. Panic. Desperation. Some amount of curiosity. And on the surface, plenty of fear.

"She's sick," Blake told him.

"Who is he?" asked Yang, reaching out and running a finger down his cheek. "He's empty."

"Yes, Yang." Blake placed her hands on Yang's shoulders and urged her back. "No semblance. Pretty common these days. He was just leaving."

"I need one," the man croaked as the vines began to pull him back up the stairs.

"Blake, let me," asked Yang.

Blake couldn't refuse her. The man stopped halfway up the flight. "His son is sick," Blake told Yang, retracting the vines back through the flip-out holes in the walls. He landed on a step and steadied himself.

"Well, that's no problem, then." Yang smiled and bounded up the steps, laying a hand on his. Blake felt something change in the man's mind. "You'll be fine. You'll all be fine." She sounded so much like her old self when she said things like that. Carefree. Happy. Should she burn bright?

" _Now_ leave," Blake demanded. The man made it up the stairs before Blake plucked the clipboard from Yang's hands—the pen was missing in action—and ran up after him.

She met him by the kitchen. "This is for you," she told him. "What was she signing for?"

"Oh! Yes. Look underneath." Blake flipped up the paper and found a thick cardstock envelope on the board. She removed it and held the rest out for him.

When he placed his hands on the board, Blake held firm. "Two things and you can go."

His gaze flickered up to her eyes before moving back down to the board in submission. "Yes, green goddess."

"First. That semblance will hurt. Touch the boy and you will receive the pain of his recovery. You'll be bedridden for a week." It was still the best of its kind that Yang had been able to find, in the six months after the great fall she'd had to look. Yang had planned on sharing gifts with the world, before the side effects cropped up. Maybe even after. She was so selfless. "By the time you recover, the semblance will be gone." That one wasn't Yang's fault. The human body could no longer sustain magic. Which, Blake supposed, meant that it was never the one sustaining it at all.

"All right." The man yanked on the board.

"That was the first thing. Second, if you send anybody else here, I'll know that you did it. And I will kill them. And if you tell anybody else about us, for any reason at all, I'll kill _you_. Nobody can stop me. Do you understand?"

He understood. "I understand." His eyes were wide. That was good. It meant she most likely wouldn't have to follow through.

Blake let him leave and walked back to the basement steps. "Hey, Boo."

"Hey, Blake!" Yang ran up the steps and hugged her.

"You got a letter," Blake said. Apparently that reminded Yang that Blake had lips, because she kissed her.

Blake broke the kiss. "Here you go." She wandered back down, having spied the pen on the carpet near the stairs.

"Blake?" asked Yang, unsure.

"Yes?" Blake turned around on the steps.

Yang held the letter out, a tremor shaking her hand. "Can you... read it to me?"

"Of course." Blake smiled and accepted the envelope. Inside was a photograph and a paper with some writing. Grabbing the pen along the way, Blake sat on the couch. "Want to join me?"

Yang sat next to her, so Blake began. "Dear Yang. I'm getting along quite well with Crysta. I think you'd like her. She's a bit explosive. She designs clothes for a living, but she humors an out-of-touch old fart like me. She could probably sneak you some new threads if you let her visit. But between you and me, I'd be fine if you let me visit alone, too. Tai."

Yang stared at Blake, confusion on her face.

She pulled the photograph from the envelope. A family photograph of Taiyang, Summer, little Yang, and and even littler Ruby. "Your father." Blake pointed.

" _Duh_ ," Yang answered, tilting sideways until she lay down across the couch. "Get down here."

Blake sighed and lay down with her. The couch wasn't wide enough for the pair, and Blake had to hug Yang to avoid rolling off. Maybe that was Yang's plan.

"I don't want them to see me like this," Yang whispered.

 _I know._ It was a blessing, truly a blessing, to have somebody not open up like a book. Blake would give anything for maidens to exit the world like everything else, but as long as they were there, at least she had someone she couldn't analyze, catalog, and dismiss.

 _She loves me._

"I love you, Blake." Yang brushed away the hair falling around Blake's face and kissed her again.


	88. Epilogue 3

The beowolf looked up at the sky. It ate, but what it ate didn't matter. It had no special love for meat, or for plants. The sun was not the source of a beowolf's survival.

That's why it wasn't _ironic_ that the sky tried to kill it. The wolf buckled under the assault, whimpering, its legs losing strength. Its breathing slowed.

Weiss lost her grip on the breeding pools, and around the world, grimm spawned. She cursed, although probably not physically, and abandoned her assassination attempt. It was too much effort, at least while deactivating every breeding pool and suppressing every beetle. But she could do it. At least so long as she stopped making mistakes.

Weiss moved back to Port's latest boarbatusk, but he'd left the cage out of range of the radio. She hunted around for more grimm in cities.

Nobody ever said that being the guardian of humanity would be so blasted _boring_! Discipline, Weiss could manage. Keeping the breeding pools stagnant was equivalent to tensing her muscles all day anyway. But she didn't have the power to do more. Humans had found only two breeding pools in the past year. She'd let grimm leak from them, so the humans would figure them out, but only one of the two had even been destroyed, and the genius that figured it out evidently hadn't publicized the hundred and eleven to go.

Maybe when there were fewer beetles, Weiss would have more control. Control a grimm, lead humans to the pools. Make them see...

Something touched Weiss in the body.

 _What on... Well, I guess, the moon. What on the moon?!_ Weiss forced herself back. It wasn't a pleasant trip, even before Weiss started dying.

Yes, there she was. Sitting down on a rather uncomfortable stone chair, body screaming for the oxygen it hadn't received in hundreds of days. She didn't need food, or _much_ air, but her body had apparently started to shut down. Everything hurt. Her legs tingled below the knee. Weiss frowned.

In front of her eyes was a woman.

She was tall, pale, with white hair hanging straight down in the vacuum. She wore a kimono. She moved her mouth, but no sound came out.

"There's no air, you dunce," Weiss mouthed back.

The woman blinked, then nodded. How was _she_ here on the moon? How did she not notice her inability to breathe? Why was her skin...

Weiss dredged up a distant memory. Yang, an airship, and a fantastical tale about ice and water. A polite, archaic woman of eternity.

The woman laid a hand on Weiss's own, resting on the throne's arm. A voice spoke in Weiss's head. It was soft, and unexpectedly warm.

"My name is Tahki. I am sorry that you have taken this burden. I cannot bear it for you."

 _I made a choice,_ Weiss thought back. Did that work? Was this a one-way process? So many questions. _I'll do my duty._ See if she didn't.

"I have reassembled the moon and erased the faery's damage." Reasse... Weiss hadn't spent any time before looking out of her eyes, and the senses she felt of the grimm were abstract and conceptual unless she forced order through them. Weiss looked past Takhi, and saw no fragments floating in the sky. "With the threat of the moon's destruction averted, you are humanity's primary safeguard. You will need help."

Weiss was proud, not stupid. Also irritated, stressed out, overcommitted, and actively dying. But still not stupid. If somebody capable of rearranging celestial bodies wanted to give her a hand, she wouldn't refuse. _What help?_

Tahki smiled, her face kind, and then looked into Weiss's eyes.

Her face grew dark.

It began at her eyes and spiderwebbed outward, like cracked porcelain. Then her skin started flaking off, then what was below skin, then what was below that. There was no wind. It all fell straight down. Weiss caught sight of her skull as the hair pulled free, then it moved down her body, too fast, until her bones and kimono fell into a heap on top of her ashes.

Weiss remembered how to widen her eyes just in time to be horrified.

Then she felt something else inside of her. A stillness. It wasn't a new idea, merely a realization of past attempts. Things began to come together. And everything that didn't was just fine being where it was.

 _Tahki died, and in dying gave me the strength of winter. The strength to devote myself to my task. The selflessness of peace. She gave it freely, because she understood my need._

Weiss stilled her body's pain.

Two hundred and eleven pools. At one per year, she'd be home in no time.


	89. Epilogue 4

Ruby looked up from her book when she heard the knocking. Qrow was still in the workshop, practicing his strikes in the corner. She passed through to the front hall and, for a moment, allowed herself to hope.

Behind the door was a young man, one year Ruby's junior. He wore green overalls and an orange headband to wrangle his mussy blonde hair. "Sorry to call so early, Miss Rose."

"Don't worry, Julian!" Ruby smiled. "Finished last week. One thirty-inch blade, three wide, six degrees curved, inside sharpened. Got it down to three and a quarter pounds." She beckoned him inside.

Ruby spoke as she walked. "Anyway, on thursday I got to thinking, and I made a few adjustments. Kept the frame strong, strong enough at least." A body without aura would snap before one of Ruby's products. "And the changes got the weight three ounces lower, which is impressive when you see what I did." She led Julian into the workshop.

"Shoo! Shoo!" Julian shouted, swiping his hands at Qrow, who dodged in a flurry of feathers and flew past him out of the door.

"Please don't do that." Ruby waited for Julian's attention. "Anyway, here it is. See how it feels." She'd painted the hilt green with orange accents.

Ruby stood back while Julian gave it a few practice swings. "Well-balanced, Miss Rose."

"All right." She grinned. "Now, squeeze the very top of the grip and touch the pommel." This was her favorite part.

"Aah!" The blade split in two, revealing a small barrel, while a trigger flipped out from the handle.

"It's not loaded. And, and no extra charge! Don't worry." Ruby didn't want him to worry. Sometimes customers worried that she did it because she was greedy.

She did it because Julian had been her only customer the entire month.

"It's..." Julian made eye contact, then looked back down at the sword. "It's something, all right." He pressed the trigger back into the handle, and the blade sealed back up.

Ruby maintained her smile, barely. Well, fine then. It wasn't like he _had_ to use the gun. "If... If that will be all, you'll make the transfer?"

Julian nodded. "I will. Tonight. Thanks again." He knew the way out.

Ruby followed him as far as the living room and collapsed into a chair. Thankfully Qrow waited until the man was gone before hopping out of hiding onto his remote and pecking on the news. "Chirp if you hear grimm," Ruby told him, out of reflex. There had supposedly been three grimm sighted on Patch in the past three months, but Ruby had only been able to find and kill two. It's not just that people couldn't use custom weapons any more, they didn't need weapons at _all_.

It was still two grimm that could've dealt more damage than the destroyed house and single death that they'd accomplished between them. So Ruby couldn't move away. Not until the frequency went down, or more learned how to fight at range like she could. Dad couldn't fight at range at his best. Qrow couldn't do more than distract grimm, and the rest of the former Signal professors had left, most for Vale.

Ruby could barely afford food and birdseed. The weather was cooling, and she would need at least heat for the winter, not to mention supplies for grimm and training.

But people counted on her. Vale could have a market for specialty weapons, but it could also defend itself. Ruby sighed and closed her eyes.

Another knock. Who could that be? Ruby nestled herself deeper into her chair.

Qrow gave a caw. It probably meant, "be more conscientious towards your visitors." Ruby'd had a lot of practice with his range.

Ruby got up. She was still ahead of the bill collectors. Had Julian found a fault? Or could it be another customer? Or could it...

Ruby allowed herself to hope. Then she reached the door and threw it open.

"Hey, you."

"Hey, you."


	90. Epilogue 5

When Roman looked over at the guard, he felt like he could hear the beetle speak. Barely more than a whisper, it told him, _attack the authority._ It wasn't powerful any more. It wasn't insistent. And it certainly wasn't intelligent. But it still gave him its opinion on things.

Roman kicked open the bank door and dove towards the corner, hooking the guard with his cane and tripping him. Then he grabbed the pistol from the man's belt and fired into the ceiling. "Everybody quiet! This won't take long."

Sometimes the beetle was right, but it was coincidence, really.

"Tellers, hands up! Everyone else, on the ground! I'm not after any of your money. Just the bank's." Roman didn't foresee resistance. Guards and toughs were all people used to aura. With a gun to their heads, they all got the sweats. Life was so deliciously fragile these days.

Roman approached the near end of the teller's desk and threw down a grocery bag. "Cash on hand and pass it down. We'll be done in no time, you'll get the day off, and the police will give you all mugs of hot chocolate or something." The man stuffed some loose lien into the bag and gave it to the next woman. Roman strode alongside the desk, keeping pace with the bag. "See how easy this is? No pain, no trouble." It reached the end in under a minute. The tellers behind him had undoubtedly hit some alarms. That was fine. The bag was comfortingly heavy. Not bad for a day's work.

Roman sauntered back to the door, then reached into the bag and tossed a generous handful of lien at the customers in the center of the room. Life was good sometimes, and not just for him! "Enjoy," he recommended, heading out the door.

His ride was waiting on the curb, so Roman opened the door and slipped in. "Hit it."

Nasrin Gulistan accelerated towards the freeway.

Roman leaned in for a kiss. Nasrin was a good driver, not like she'd crash. And she was just so irresistibly _cute_ in that pink top! It was like what she'd been wearing when they'd met, minus the modesty forced upon her by faculty dress codes.

But then, once Roman set his sights on somebody, it was unreasonable to expect them to slip away. His looks, his charm, his _incentives_... Tenure at Haven hadn't stood a chance. He'd been doing this since _before_ he was able to touch people.

"Good haul?" Nasrin asked.

"Few thousand." Roman grinned. "Tonight will be fun."

The entire world could upend itself around him, but Roman would always land feet-first. Yes, the future was bright indeed. Bright as ever.

ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ sᴀʏ - ᴇɴᴅ

* * *

Thanks to Catlover18 for editing Illumination and the epilogue. Those chapters just kept coming, didn't they? Tireless work, invaluable assistance.

Thanks to Unjax for scattered editing help, Karsus for some planning advice, and Fireavatar for beta reading several chapters.

Thanks to Roosterteeth for making the IP.

And finally, thanks for reading! I had fun making it, so hopefully the feeling is mutual. :)


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